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LIBRARIES 


LIBRARIES 


ADDRESSES  AND  ESSAYS 


BY  JOHN  COTTON  DANA 


THE    H.    W.    WILSON     COMPANY 

WHITE  PLAINS.  N.  Y.,  AND  NEW  YORK  CITY 

1916 


LiBUARj  ^dmoi 


PREFACE 


The  first  of  the  addresses  here  printed  was  de- 
livered in  1896,  the  hist  in  1915,  and  they  thus  cover 
twenty  years  of  my  experience  as  librarian  in  three 
cities.  They  are  reprinted,  at  my  own  suggestion, 
in  the  hope  that  they  contain  somewliat  of  interest 
and  value,  especially  to  the  younger  members  of  our 
calling,  and  that  they  will  attract  a  few  general 
readers. 

For  twenty-five  years  I  have  devoted  myself 
quite  persistently  to  promoting  the  habits  of  read- 
ing, of  using  libraries  and  of  book  buying.  This 
work  has  been  very  fascinating.  One  of  its  most 
attractive  features  has  been  its  constant  change  in 
method,  in  scope  and  in  material.  I  have  seen  that 
fundamental  thing  in  library  management,  the  rela- 
tion of  the  tax-payer  to  his  public  library,  change 
from  the  method  of  rigid  supervision  in  1891,  in 
which  year  only  four  of  a  national  gathering  of 
about  125  librarians  voted  for  the  open  shelf,  to 
that  of  to-day,  when  almost  every  library  of  note 
eagerly  invites  its  visitors  to  handle  its  books.  In 
these  same  twenty-five  years  librarians  have  given 
up  the  age-limit  method  which  kept  children  out  of 
libraries,  for  the  attraction  method  which  lures  them 
in.  In  1890  libraries  quite  definitely  pursued  re- 
pose; to-day  they  seek  results.  In  1890  a  citizen 
who  wished  to  take  home  a  library  book  was  in- 
spected for  maturity,  integrity  and  sweet  reason- 
ableness, and  was  guaranteed  to  possess  these  attri- 
butes by  a  fellow  citizen  of  good  repute  for  the 
same,  before  his  wish  was  granted.  To-day  an  entry 
in  a  city  directory  is  ample  evidence  that  one  pos- 


JW663940 


PREFACE 

sesses  proper  book-borrowing  qualities ;  and  a  library's 
eagerness  to  serve  often  supplies  a  directory's  defi- 
ciencies. 

Under  the  influence  of  ^Ir.  Carnegie's  gifts, 
whose  wealtli  is  probably  as  great  a  surprise  to  him 
as  his  generosity  is  to  tlie  world,  expensive  library 
buildings  have  multiplied  rapidly  since  1890.  Many 
of  these  seem  to  have  been  ingeniously  planned  to 
furnish  a  mininmm  of  inconvenient  space  at  a  max- 
imum of  cost;  still,  they  have  increased  enormously 
popular  interest  in  libraries  and  in  appropriations 
of  public  funds  therefor.  Library  workers  have 
also  increased  greatly  in  number,  as  is  indicated 
by  the  national  association's  membership,  which  was 
200  in  1890  and  is  over  3,000  to-day. 

The  first  school  of  library  science  was  opened 
in  1887  by  ^Ir.  Dewey,  against  the  protests  of  many 
worthy  librarians  who  felt  that  the  art  of  library 
management  did  not  lie  within  the  field  of  educa- 
tion. To-day  10  library  schools  of  good  standing 
have  a  total  of  300  pupils,  and  minor  schools  and 
training   classes   have   many   more. 

In  my  quarter  century  of  work  I  have  seen  li- 
braries of  5,000  volumes  and  over  increase  from 
about  1,200  to  about  3,000,  and  the  total  volumes  in 
all  our  libraries  increase  from  26,000,000  to  75,000,000. 
The  census  tells  us  that  in  the  same  twenty-five 
years  the  money  invested  in  printing  and  publish- 
ing plants  of  all  kinds  has  grown  from  |195,387,000 
to  over  |(;00,000,000,  with  a  corresi)ondiiig  increase 
in  output.  This  increase  in  the  output  of  the  print- 
ing press  is  the  thing  which,  perhaps  above  all  other 
factors,  is  bringing  about  a  radical  revolution  in 
liltrary  method.  What  I  have  already  said  may  seem 
to  indicate  that  the  changes  in  the  art  of  library  nian- 

vi 


PREFACE 

agemeiit  of  the  past  twentjfive  rears  have  been 
sufficiently  radical;  and  that  the  modern  practice 
of  that  art  conforms  to  all  the  demands  born  of 
clianges  in  material  and  clientele.  Bnt  I  believe 
I  have  shown  in  this  book  that  in  the  art  of  librarian- 
ship, — the  art  of  promoting  the  nse  of  print  to  civil 
ends, — the  rising  flood  of  print  and  tliat  increase 
of  its  nse  which  is  at  once  the  immediate  cause 
of  the  flood  and  a  result  thereof,  will  soon  compel 
changes  in  practice  more  fundamental  than  any  that 
have  gone  before.  Not  many  men  of  books,  as  one 
may  call  librarians,  have  gone  out  into  the  world; 
but  their  books  have,  and  the}'  must  follow  them. 
For  every  craft,  for  every  art,  for  every  trade,  for 
every  kind  of  business,  for  every  profession,  for  every 
social  question,  there  now  comes  forth  daily  a 
veritable  army  of  f>rinted  things,  greater  than  any 
statistics  save  that  of  the  capital  invested  in  print- 
ing can  do  more  than  vaguely  suggest.  And  it  is 
well  to  call  tliis  vast  output  of  print  an  army  and 
not  a  flood,  for  it  is  irrepressibly  militant.  It  com- 
pels attention  ;  and  it  finds  waiting  a  vast  multitude 
of  readers,  daily  added  to  by  our  schools,  which 
surrenders  gladly  to  its  assaults.  Certain  qualities 
of  this  innumerable  host  of  printed  pages,  and  an 
inevitable  increase  in  the  use  of  printed  pages  by 
all  manner  of  men,  demand,  as  I  have  said,  changes 
in  tlie  librarian's  method,  so  radical  as  to  compel  in 
him  who  would  wisely  adopt  them  a  quite  definite 
change  in  his  conception  of  his  calling. 

In  this  volume  I  have  not  attempted  to  say  def- 
initely how  the  librarian  of  the  future  will  adapt 
his  practice  to  the  new  conditions.  I  have  tried 
only  to  make  it  quite  clear  that  the  wise  librarian 
will  keep  his  mental  manners  plastic  and  his  pro- 
fessional  methods  flexible.     And  perhaps  here   lies 

vii 


PKEFACE 

my  chiefest  reason  for  thinkiug  that  it  may  prove 
worth  while  to  reprint  these  papers — that  they 
quite  urgently  insist  that,  after  an  enthusiasm  born 
of  love  of  the  calling,  the  one  most  essential  attri- 
bute of  the  librarian,  if  he  would  be  forever  helpful  and 
never  an  obstacle,  is  a  profound  belief  that  the  end 
is  not  yet,  that  new  conditions  arise  daily  and  that 
they  can  be  wisely  met  only  after  a  confession  of 
ijruorance,  a  surrender  of  all  doctrine  and  careful 
and  unprejudiced  observations. 

John  Cotton  Dana 
Newark,  N.  J.,  June  1,  1916 


Vlll 


CONTENTS 

Hear  the  Other  Side 3 

President's  Address  to  the  American  Library 
Association,  Cleveland  Conference,  September, 
1896. 

The  Public  and  its  Public  Library 15 

Popular  Science  Monthly,  Jnne,  1897. 

The  Failure  of  Book  Reviewing 33 

Springfield,  Mass.,  Republican,  May  23,  1900 

A  Librarian's  Enthusiasm 39 

Bulletin  of  the  New  Hampshire  Library  Com- 
mission, March,  1901 

What  We  Read 43 

Printed,  in  part,  in  World's  Work,  March,  1902 

Library   Problems 51 

Pedagogical   Seminary,   June,   1902 

The  Place  of  the  Public  Library  in  a  City's 

Life 69 

Address  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Trenton,  N.  J,, 
Public  Library,  June  9,  1902 

The  Increase  of  Things  to  Read 75 

Address  delivered  before  the  Pennsylvania 
Library  Association,   November  19,   1902 

Mere  Words 87 

Address  delivered  before  the  New  Jersey  State 
Teachers'  Association,  Trenton,  December  29, 
1902 

Fiction-Readers  and  Libraries 97 

Outlook,  June  27,  1903 

What  the  People  Read 107 

Outlook,  December  5,  1903 

ix 


CONTENTS 

Making  a  Lihuauy  Known 115 

Address    delivered    before    tlie    Long    Island 
Library  Chib,  1905 

What  State  and  Local  Library  Associations 

Can  Uo  for  Library  Interests   -    -    .    .  123 
Address  delivered  before  the  American  Library 
Association  Conference,  Portland,     1905 

Many-sided  Interest;  How  the  Library  Pro- 

-Motes  It 135 

School   -loiinial,    December  22,   1906 

Anticipations,  or  What  We  May  Expect  in 

Libraries 147 

Public   Libraries,    December,    1907 

Story-Telling  in  Libraries 153 

Pnblic    Libraries,    November,    1908 

What  the  Modern  Library  is  Doing-    -    -    -  157 
Independent,   January   26,    1911 

The  Country  Church  and  the  Library  -    -    -  167 
Outlook,   May  6,   1911 

Women  in  Library  Work 171 

Independent,  August  3,  1911 

Branch  Libraries  in  School  Houses-    -    -    -  181 
Address  delivered  before  the  American  Library 
Institute,    September,    1911 

Relations  of  a  Library  to  its  City 187 

Address  delivered  before  the  League  of  Ameri- 
can Municipalities,  Buffalo,  September  18, 1912 

The  Public  Library  and  Publicity  in  Municipal 

Affairs 203 

Paper  read  before  the  New  York  Library  Club, 
March  13,  1913 

X 


CONTENTS 

Making  the  Library  a  Business  Aid 211 

Town  Development,  March,  1913 

LiBRARIOLOGY 221 

The  Newarker,  April,  1913 

The  Evolution  of  the  Speciai,  Library    -    -    -  213 

The  Newarker,  Jannary,   1911 
The  Legitimate  Field  of  the  Municipal  Public 

Library 261 

Prepared  for   the   International   Meeting  of 

Librarians  at  Oxford,  England,  August  31  to 

September    5,    1911 

What  Next? 281 

Delivered  before  the  New  York  Library  Asso- 
ciation, October  1,  1915 


XI 


LIBRA^RIES 


HEAR  THE  OTHER  SIDE 

President's  Address  to  the  Atiierican  Lihrary  Asso- 
ehitiou,  Vlerehind  Couferenee,  September,  1S96 

"Failures    confessed   are    guide-posts    to    success; 
weaknesses  discovered   are  no  longer  weaknesses." 

I  sometimes  fear  my  entlinsiasm  for  the  free  pub- 
lic librarj^  is  born  more  of  contagion  than  of  con- 
viction. Consider  the  thing  in  some  of  its  more 
evident  asjiects. 

Here  is  a  bnilding,  perliaps  erected  to  perpetnate 
a  good  man's  memory,  a  monument  and  of  nse  only 
as  a  monument;  or  constrneted  in  accordance  Avith 
the  views  of  an  architect  whose  ideas  of  beauty  are 
crude  and  whose  thought  of  utility  is  naught;  ill- 
adapted  to  the  purpose  for  wliich  it  is  intended; 
poorly  lighted,  badly  ventilated.  In  it  are  stored  a 
few  thousand  volumes,  including,  of  course,  tlie  best 
books  of  all  times — which  no  one  reads — and  a  gener- 
ous percentage  of  fiction  of  tlie  clieaper  sort.  To 
this  place  come  in  good  proportion  tlie  idle  and  the 
lazy;  also  the  people  w]io  cannot  endure  the  burden 
of  a  thought,  and  wlio  fancy  they  are  improving  their 
minds,  while  in  fact  they  are  simply  letting  cool 
waters  from  fountains  of  knowledge  trickle  through 
the  sieves  of  an  idle  curiosity.  The  more  persistent 
visitors  are  often  men  who  either  liave  failed  in  a 
career,  or  never  had  a  career,  or  do  not  wish  a  ca- 
reer. Libraries  all  have  their  indolents,  idlers  and 
"boarders." 

There  is  little  that  is  inspiring,  per  se,  in  the 
sight  of  the  men  who  gather  in  the  newspaper  read- 
ing room  of  any  free  public  library.  There  is  not 
much  that  is  encouraging  in  a  careful  look  at  manv 


LIBRARIES 

of  those  wlio  are  the  more  constant  visitors  to  the 
shelves  of  the  reference  department.  Who  wear  out 
our  dictionaries,  the  students  of  language  or  the  com- 
petitors in  a  word  building  contest?  Of  those  who 
come  to  the  delivery  desk  CO  to  80  per  cent  rarely 
concern  themselves,  as  far  as  the  library  knows  them, 
with  anything  but  fiction,  and  in  that  field  concern 
themselves  generally  only  with  the  latest  novel,  which 
they  wish  because  it  is  the  latest.  And  of  this  60  to 
80  per  cent,  a  large  proportion — probably  at  least 
half — prefer  to  get,  and  generally  do  get,  a  novel  of 
the  poorer  kind. 

I  am  stating  the  case  plainly.  I  share  the  librari- 
an's enthusiasm;  but  that  enthusiasm  is  sometimes 
to  me,  and  I  believe  to  many  others,  a  cause  for  sur- 
prise. Has  it  not  often  come  sharply  home  to  every 
librarian — the  hopelessness  of  the  task  we  assume  to 
set  ourselves?  The  triviality  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
free  public  library's  educational  work?  The  dis- 
couraging nature  of  the  field?  The  pettiness,  the 
awful  pettiness,  of  results? 

Nor  is  this  all.  That  we  strive  for  great  things 
and  accomplish  so  little;  that  our  output  seems  not 
commensurate  with  the  size  of  the  plant  and  the  cost 
of  its  maintenance,  this  is  by  no  means  the  only  fact 
which  may  rightly  sober  our  enthusiasms. 

Fathers  and  mothers  love  their  children  and  look 
after  their  happiness.  The  more  they  do  this,  the 
more  they  concern  themselves  that  the  human  beings 
they  have  brought  into  the  world  be  self-reliant,  self- 
supporting  i^eople,  knowing  how  to  live  in  harmony 
with  their  fellows,  and  wishing  so  to  live,  the  more 
civilized  are  they.  Parental  responsibility  is  some- 
thing the  sense  of  whicli  has  never  been  too  acute. 
That  I  may  rightly  scorn  and  despise  my  neighbor  if 


HEAR  THE  OTHER  SIDE 

his  cliildreu  be  not  decent,  attractive,  civilized;  that 
my  neighbor  may  rightly  consider  himself  disgraced 
if  his  offspring  grow  not  up  in  the  fear  and  admo- 
nition of  the  good  citizen;  these  things  are  not  yet 
commonly  received.  The  native  manners  and  the 
education  of  the  American  child  are  looked  upon,  not 
so  much  as  the  result  of  parentage  and  home  train- 
ing, as  the  good  gift  of  God  and  the  public  school. 

A  strong  sense  of  parental  responsibility,  this  is 
a  prime  essential  to  the  growth  of  knowledge,  and  to 
the  increase  of  social  efficiency.  And  this  feeling  of 
obligation  to  train  properly  the  souls  of  one's  own 
creation;  this  sense  that  the  parent  can  win  public 
approval  as  a  parent  only  when  the  result  is  an  addi- 
tional factor  in  the  public's  happiness  and  comfort; 
this  rule  of  living  would  surely  result,  if  rightly 
applied,  in  careful  consideration  of  the  child's  educa- 
tion. But  what  have  we  done?  We  have  turned  the 
w^hole  subject  of  education  over  to  the  community. 
We  have  made  it  depend  very  largely  on  the  result  of 
an  annual  election.  We  have  let  it  slip  gradually 
into  the  hands  of  those  veritable  and  inevitable  chil- 
dren of  government — the  politicians.  The  American 
parent  is  indifferent  to  the  character  of  the  education 
of  his  children.  The  interposition  of  the  community 
in  what  should  be  his  affairs  has  not  only  made  him 
indifferent  to  those  affairs,  it  has  made  others  indif- 
ferent that  he  is  so.  He  pays  his  taxes.  If  the 
schools  are  poor  the  fault  is  at  the  school-board's 
door,  not  his. 

The  free  public  library  not  only  relieves  the  idle 
and  incompetent  and  indifferent  from  the  necessity 
— would  he  have  books — of  going  to  work  to  earn 
them;  it  not  only  checks  the  growth  of  the  tendency 
of  the  private  individual  to  collect  a  library  of  his 


LIBRARIES 

own,  adapted  to  liis  own  needs,  and  suiting  his  own 
tastes  and  those  of  his  childen;  it  also  tends  to  lead 
parents  to  become  inditterent  to  the  general  reading 
of  their  children,  just  as  the  free  public  school  may 
lead  them  to  be  indifferent  to  their  formal  education. 
Certainly,  fathers  and  mothers  whose  children  use 
public  libraries  seem  to  care  very  little  what  and  how 
much  their  children  read.  They  conceal  their  solici- 
tude from  librarian  and  assistants,  if  it  exists.  Yet, 
if  a  collection  of  books  in  a  community  is  a  good 
thing  for  the  community — and  we  seem  to  think  it  is ; 
and  if  it  is  a  good  thing  particularly  for  the  children 
of  the  comninnity — and  we  seem  to  think  it  is,  then 
it  is  a  good  thing,  not  in  itself  simply,  not  as  an 
object  of  worship,  not  as  an  adequate  excuse  for  the 
erection  of  a  pleasing  mortuary  monument  on  the 
public  street,  but  for  its  effect  on  young  folks'  man- 
ners and  on  young  folks'  brains.  But  to  produce  a 
maximum  effect  herein,  to  produce  even  a  modest 
effect,  the  right  books  must  be  put  into  the  right  hand 
at  the  right  time.  Can  public  servants  do  this  rightly 
unless  the  parents  cooperate  Avith  them?  But  the 
public  library  is  not  an  institution  which  the  mother 
helps  to  support  because  she  has  come  to  believe  in 
it;  because  it  is  her  pleasure;  because  she  can  and 
does  keep  a  watchful  eye  on  its  growth  and  its  meth- 
ods. It  is  part  of  the  machinery  of  the  state.  She 
confides  her  children  to  its  tender  nu^rcies  in  the 
same  spirit  Avith  Avliich  her  forbears  confided  in  their 
king! 

Furtherniori',  the  essence  of  government  is  force. 
This  essence  remains  whether  the  visible  form  be  king 
or  majority.  It  is  open  to  question — I  put  it  mildly 
— wlu'tlier  it  is  expedient  to  touch  Avith  the  strong 
hand  the  im})ulse  of  a  ])eople  to  train  Avith  earnest 

6 


HEAR  THE  OTHER  BIDE 

tlioiiglit  their  young',  or  the  impulse  of  a  people  to 
give  light  to  their  fellows.  People  wish,  in  the  main, 
that  their  children  be  well  taught.  Without  this  wish 
a  school  system,  public  or  private,  would  be  impos- 
sible. This  wish  is  the  fundamental  fact;  that  the 
system  is  public  and  tax-supported  is  the  secondary 
fact;  the  result,  not  the  cause.  People  wish  also,  in 
the  main,  to  give  their  fellows  and  themselves  the 
opportunity  for  self  improvement.  This  wish  is  the 
fundamental  fact  at  the  bottom  of  the  free,  compul- 
sorily  supported  public  library.  It  is  on  these  funda- 
mental facts  we  should  keep  our  eyes  and  our 
thoughts,  not  on  the  feature  of  compulsion. 

We  should  work,  then,  such'is  my  conclusion,  for 
the  extension  of  the  public  library  from  the  starting 
point  of  human  sympathy ;  from  the  universal  desire 
for  an  increase  of  human  happiness  by  an  increase 
of  knowledge  of  the  conditions  of  human  happiness; 
not  from  the  starting-point  of  hiAV,  of  compulsion,  of 
enforcing  on  others  our  views  of  their  duty. 

I  have  said  enough  in  this  line.  To  the  observant 
eye  our  libraries  are  not  altogether  halls  of  learning; 
they  are  also  the  haunts  of  the  lazy.  They  do  not 
always  interest  parents  in  their  children;  perhaps 
they  lead  parents  to  be  indifferent  to  their  children. 
But  really,  librarians  will  say,  all  this  is  not  our 
concern.  We  find  ourselves  here,  they  say,  loving 
the  companionship  of  books;  desirous  of  extending 
the  joys  they  can  give  to  our  felloAvs;  embarked  in 
public  service,  and  active — none  are  more  so ;  zealous 

none  are  more  so;  honest — none  are  more  so,  in  our 

work  of  making  good  use  of  books.  Your  modern 
librarian  in  his  daily  life  is  no  disputatious  ecouomist, 
idly  Avavering,  like  the  fabled  donkey,  between  the 
loose  hay  of  a  crass  individualism  and  the  chopped 


LIBRARIES 

feed  of  a  perfectionist  socialism.  He  is  a  worker. 
If  tliere  are  things  to  be  said  wliich  may  add  to  the 
efiftciency  of  liis  attempts  to  lielp  his  fellows  to  grow 
happier  and  wiser,  let  us  hear  them;  and  for  this  we 
have  come  together. 

I  have  said  these  things,  not  with  the  wish  to 
lessen  the  zeal  of  one  of  us  in  our  chosen  work.  A 
moment's  look  at  the  case  against  us  cannot  anger 
us — that  were  childish;  cannot  discourage  us — that 
were  cowardly.  It  may  lead  us  to  look  to  the  joints 
in  our  armor;  it  should  lead  us  to  renew  our  efforts. 
If  the  free  public  library  movement  be  not  abso- 
lutely and  altogether  a  good  thing,  and  he  is  a  bold 
economist  who  vows  that  it  is,  how  urgent  is  the  call 
to  us  to  make  each  our  own  library  the  corrective, 
as  far  as  may  be,  of  the  possible  harm  of  its  existence. 
A  collection  of  books  gathered  at  public  expense  does 
not  justify  itself  by  the  simple  fact  that  it  is.  If  a 
library  be  not  a  live  educational  institution  it  were 
better  never  established.  It  is  ours  to  justify  to  the 
world  the  literary  warehouse.  A  library  is  good  only 
as  the  librarian  makes  it  so. 

Can  we  do  more  than  we  have  done  to  justify  our 
calling?  Can  we  make  ourselves  of  more  importance 
in  the  world,  of  more  positive  value  to  the  world? 
Our  calling  is  dignified  in  our  own  e3'es,  it  is  true; 
but  we  are  not  greatly  dignified  in  the  eyes  of  our 
fellows.  The  public  does  not  ask  our  opinions.  We 
are,  like  the  teachers,  students;  and  we  strive,  like 
them,  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times,  and  to  have  opin- 
ions on  vital  topics  formed  after  much  reading  and 
some  thought.  But  save  on  more  trivial  questions, 
on  questions  touching  usually  only  the  recreative  side 
of  life,  like  those  of  literature  commonly  so  called, 

8 


HEAR  THE  OTHER  SIDE 

our  opinions  are  not  asked  for.  We  are,  to  put  it 
bluntly,  of  very  little  weight  in  the  community.  We 
are  teachers;  and  who  cares  much  for  what  the 
teacher  says? 

I  am  not  pausing  now  to  note  exceptions.  We  all 
know  our  masters  and  our  exemplars ;  and  I  shall  not 
pause  to  praise  the  men  and  women  who  have  brought 
us  where  we  are ;  Avho  have  lifted  librarianship,  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Avise  and  good,  to  a  profession,  and 
have  made  it  comparatively  an  easy  thing  for  you  and 
me  to  develop  our  libraries,  if  we  can  and  will,  into 
all  that  they  should  be,  and  to  become  ourselves,  as 
librarians,  men  and  women  of  weight  and  value  in 
the  community. 

I  have  said  that  your  library  is  perhaps  inji.'ring 
your  community ;  that  you  are  not  of  any  importance 
among  your  own  people.  And  these,  you  tell  me  are 
hard  sayings.  In  truth  they  are.  I  am  not  here  to 
pass  you  any  compliments.  If  for  five  minutes  we 
can  divest  ourselves  of  every  last  shred  of  our  trap 
pings  of  self-satisfaction,  and  arouse  in  ourselves  for 
A  moment  a  keen  sense  of  our  sins  of  omission,  of 
things  left  undone  or  not  well  done,  I  shall  be  content, 
and  shall  consider  that  we  have  wisely  opened  these 
Cleveland  sessions.  I  Avould  wish  to  leave  you,  here 
at  the  very  beginning  of  our  discussions,  not,  indeed 
in  the  Slough  of  Despond,  but  climbing  sturdily,  and 
well  aware  that  you  are  climbing,  the  Hill  Difficulty. 
Others,  I  can  assure  you,  will,  long  before  our  con- 
ference ends,  lead  us  again,  and  that  joyfully,  to  our 
Delectable  Mountains. 

Pardon  me,  then,  while  I  say  over  again  a  few  of 
the  things  that  cannot  be  too  often  said. 

Look  first  to  your  own  personal  growth.     Get  into 


LIBRARIES 

touch  with  the  workl.  Let  no  one  point  to  yon  as  an 
instance  of  the  nariowinj;'  effects  of  too  mncli  of 
books. 

lie  social.  Impress  yonrself  on  Aonr  community; 
in  a  small  way  if  not  in  a  large.  Be  not  superior  and 
reserved.  Remember  that  he  who  to  the  popular  eye 
wears  mucli  the  air  of  wisdom  4s  never  wise. 

Speak  out  freely  on  matters  of  library  manage- 
ment; and  especially,  in  these  days,  on  matters  of 
library  construction.  In  recent  years  millions  of  dol- 
lars have  been  spent  on  library  buildings  in  this 
country,  and  we  have  not  yet  a  half  dozen  in  the  land 
that  do  not  disgrace  us.  If  we  have  stood  idly  by 
and  not  made  our  opinions,  our  knowledge,  our  ex- 
perience, felt  by  trustees  and  architects,  then  is  ours 
the  blame,  and  we  are  chief  among  the  sufferers. 
Persuade  architects  and  their  associations,  local  and 
national,  who  ignore  us  because  in  our  inconsequence 
they  know  they  can,  that  they  maj  wisely  and  without 
loss  of  dignity  consult  the  professional  librarian 
jibout  the  building  he  is  to  occupy.  I  say  persuade 
them ;  I  might  better  say  compel  them.  To  compel 
them  Avill  be  easy  when  you  have  become  of  impor- 
tance in  tlie  world.  Even  now  it  is  not  too  soon  to 
attem|)t  to  confer  with  them.  You  can  at  once  make 
the  beginning  of  friendly  and  helpful  relations  with 
the  American  Institute  of  Achitects.  But  you  must 
ask,  not  demand. 

Advertise  the  A.  L.  A.  and  what  it  stands  for. 
Help  to  broaden  its  field.  Support  heartily  measures 
which  look  to  a  greater  degree  of  publicity  for  it. 
Interest  your  trustees  in  it.  Interest  your  friends, 
and  your  patrons  and  constituents  in  it.  Be  ready 
and  willing  to  do  your  share  of  the  work,  and  there 
is  no  end  of  Avork  that  each  year  must  be  done  to 

10 


HEAE  THE  OTHER  SIDE 

keep  it  properh'  alive  and  Avell  in  the  pnblic  eye. 
Call  the  attention  of  3;onr  trnstees  to  the  difference 
between  the  efficient  library,  such  as  the  A.  L.  A. 
advocates,  and  the  dead-and-alive  collection  of  books, 
still  altogether  too  common.  Consider  the  contrast 
between  the  possible  pnblic  library  and  the  pnblic 
library  that  is.  If  the  canses  for  that  contrast  lie 
at  yonr  door,  face  them  frankly  and  bravely  and  strive 
to  remove  them. 

Do  not  forget  the  Library  Department  of  the  Na- 
tional Edncational  Association,  recently  established. 
It  gives  yon  excnse,  and  it  gives  yon  canse  to  take  an 
interest,  more  active  even  than  heretofore,  in  the 
introduction  of  books  and  library  methods  into  school 
work,  and  to  concern  yonrselves  more  than  ever  before 
with  the  general  reading  of  teachers  and  their  pnpils. 
Impress  npon  teachers  the  valne  to  them  of  yonr 
library.  Persnade  them,  if  yon  can,  that  to  do  their 
best  work  they  mnst  know  well  and  nse  freely  the 
good  books. 

See  that  yonr  local  book  and  news  men  are  heart- 
ily witli  yon  in  the  work  of  spreading  knowledge  of 
the  right  nse  of  books  and  in  enconraging  ownership 
of  books  in  yonr  commnnity.  If  yon  come  in  contact 
with  the  bookseller  and  the  pnblisher  of  the  great 
cities,  do  what  yon  can  to  persnade  them  that  to  join 
in  the  work  of  this  association  of  librarians  is  not 
only  to  benefit  the  commnnity  at  large,  bnt  to  help 
their  own  particnlar  bnsiness  as  well. 

Be  not  slow  in  giving  hearty  recognition  to  those 
who  have,  in  the  beginnings  of  library  science,  taken 
the  first  place  and  borne  the  bnrdens  and  made  an 
easy  way  for  ns  who  follow.  If,  perhaps  against 
some  odds,  a  lil>rarian,  man  or  woman,  is  making  an 
eminent  snccess  of  some  great  city  library,  may  yo\i 

11 


LIBRARIES 

not  properly  send  him,  once  and  again,  a  word  which 
shall  signify  that  you,  at  least,  are  alive  to  the  fact 
of  his  good  work  and  are  yourself  encouraged  and 
inspired  thereby?  Like  words  of  approval  you  may 
well  extend  to  the  good  men,  outside  the  profession 
proper,  who  have  given  their  time  and  energy,  a  labor 
of  love,  to  improve  certain  features  of  library  work. 

Interest  in  your  work  in  your  own  community 
3^our  local  book-lovers  and  book-collectors  and  book- 
worms and  private  students  and  plodders  and  burn- 
ers of  the  midnight  oil.  Get  in  touch  with  the  teach- 
ers of  literature  in  the  colleges  and  schools  of  your 
neighborhood.  Expound  to  such,  and  to  the  general 
reader  as  well,  Avhenever  jo\i  properly  can,  the  diffi- 
culties and  the  possibilities  of  your  calling,  your  con- 
quests in  classification  and  cataloging,  and  your 
advances  in  bibliographj^  and  indexing,  and  the  pro- 
gress in  recent  years  of  general  library  economy. 
Remember  that  all  these  things  can  be  even  better 
done  in  a  small  community,  in  the  village  library  of  a 
few  hundred  volumes,  than  in  the  large  librarj^  of  the 
great  city. 

Note  the  women's  clubs,  art  associations,  his- 
torical societies,  scientific  societies.  Do  not  forget  the 
private  schools.  In  the  small  town  you  can  gain 
without  difficulty  the  good-will  of  the  local  news- 
paper. You  can  often  assist  the  editor  in  his  work, 
and  lead  him  to  help  you  in  return.  'The  clergymen 
in  your  town  certainly  care  somewhat  for  the  reading 
of  their  young  people,  and  will  cooperate  with  you 
in  any  intelligent  effort  to  increase  it  and  improve  it. 
The  Sunday-school  libraries  of  your  neighborhood  are 
open  to  your  suggestions,  if  you  approach  them  prop- 
erly. And  the  Y.  M.  C.  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  associations 
will  gladly  take  from  you  advice  and  assistance  in 

12 


HEAR  THE  OTHER  SIDE 

the  mauagement  of  their  reading-rooms  aud  their 
libraries. 

None  are  so  poor  that  they  cannot  give  to  others ; 
and  few  libraries  are  so  small  that  they  cannot  spare 
books  and  magazines  enough  to  make  a  little  library 
which  may  be  sent  out  into  a  still  smaller  community 
and  there  do  good  service. 

Do  the  business  men  and  the  business  women, 
the  active  people,  those  who  feed  us  and  clothe  us  and 
transport  us,  those  who  have  brought  about  in  the  last 
few  decades  the  great  increase  in  creature  comforts 
for  every  one,  do  these  business  people  take  an  active 
interest  in  your  library?  Do  they  care  for  you  or  for 
your  opinion?  If  not,  is  it  their  fault?  Is  it  that 
they  are  gross  and  dull  and  material  and  worldly; 
or  is  it  that  you,  the  wise  librarian,  know  not  yet 
how  to  bring  your  educational  forces  to  bear  on  the 
life  that  now  is?  Our  work  is  but  begun  so  long  as 
we  are  not  in  close  touch  with  the  man  of  affairs. 

Remember  that  as  you  in  your  town,  or  in  your 
city,  widen  the  sphere  of  your  influence,  grow  to  be 
a  person  of  worth  and  dignity  in  the  community,  you 
thereby  add  so  much  to  the  dignity  and  to  the  effec- 
tiveness of  the  whole  profession.  If  in  a  city  or  town 
near  you  there  is  a  library  which,  in  its  general  ar- 
rangement is  not  what  it  should  be,  which  is  but  a 
dusty  pile  of  printed  pages  or  but  a  roosting-place 
for  a  flock  of  cheap  novels,  yours  is  in  part  the  fault, 
and  you  are  largely  the  loser.  When  a  dweller  in 
that  town,  one  unacquainted  with  library  affairs — 
and  most  are  such — hears  you  alluded  to  as  a  "li- 
brarian," he  thinks  of  you  as  a  person  akin  to  the 
bibliothecal  pagan  who  fails  to  manage  the  library 
of  his  own  town,  the  only  library  he  knows  by  which 
he  can   measure  your  work.     He  is  a   "librarian"; 

13 


LIBRARIES 

you  are  a  "librarian."'     We  wear  the  livery  of  our 
co-Avorkers  as  well  as  our  own. 

Keep  these  thoughts  in  mind  and  you  will  see 
how  essential  it  is,  would  our  profession  reach  the 
standing-  we  Avish  it  to  reach,  Avould  we  make  it  every- 
where an  honor  to  wear  our  name,  that  every  smallest 
library  be  an  effective  educational  machine,  and  that 
every  humblest  librarian  be  an  active,  enthusiastic, 
intelligent  worker. 

See  that  your  library  is  interesting  to  the  people 
of  the  community,  the  people  who  own  it,  the  people 
who  maintain  it.  Deny  your  people  Jiothing  which 
the  book-shop  grants  them.  :Make  your  library  at 
least  as  attractive  as  the  most  attractive  retail  store 
in  the  community.  Open  your  eyes  to  the  cheapness 
of  books  at  the  present  day,  and  to  the  unimportance, 
even  to  the  small  library,  of  the  loss  of  an  occasional 
volume;  and  open  them  also  to  the  necessity  of  getting 
your  constituency  in  actual  contact  Avith  the  books 
themselves. 

Remember  always  that  taxation  is  compulsion, 
that  taxation  is  government;  that  government,  among 
present-day  human  creatures,  is  politics;  that  the  end 
of  an  institution  may  not  justify  its  means;  that  a 
free  public  library  may  be  other  than  a  helpful  thing. 
See  to  it,  therefore,  the  more  carefully  that  your  own 
public  library  at  least  is  rationally  administered,  and 
promotes  public  helpfulness. 


14 


THE  PUBLIC  AND  ITS  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

Popular  Science  Monthly,  June,  1S07 

The  opponents  of  the  system  of  free,  tax-supported 
public  schools  never  have  been  answered.  That  they 
are  wrong-  in  their  position  is  not  proved,  as  so  many 
seem  to  think,  by  a  simple  reference  to  the  great 
growth  and  seeming  success  of  the  free  public-school 
system  and*  its  attendant  free  public  library  system 
in  this  country.  An  institution  may  thrive,  may  ap- 
parently fulfill  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  designed, 
and  may  at  the  same  time  be  working  great  harm  to 
the  people  who  have  adopted  it  and  maintain  it  and 
trust  in  it — a  harm  which  nmy  become  apparent  only 
after  a  long  series  of  years,  and  apparent  at  first,  even 
then,  only  to  the  most  careful  observer.  It  is  a 
familiar  fact  that  a  great  change  in  governmental 
policy  may  not  produce  its  full  effect  for  many 
decades.  We  are  still  in  the  dark  as  to  what  will  be 
the  final  outcome,  and  especially  the  final  effect  on 
character,  of  the  free  public  educational  system. 

The  individualist  opponent  of  that  system  says 
that  the  individual  is  the  important  thing.  He  con- 
tends that  the  individual  is  happiest  when  he  has  the 
maximum  of  freedom ;  that  he  best  develops  when  he 
most  fully  reaps  the  rewards  of  his  own  exertions 
and  his  own  self-denials,  and  most  fully  receives  the 
punishment  of  his  own  indolence  and  his  own  prodi- 
gality— of  his  own  failure  to  adjust  himself  to  men 
and  things  about  him.  The  mass,  he  says,  may 
restrain  the  individual  wlio  would  make  an  attack  on 
others;  it  may  refuse  to  affiliate  with  tlie  individual 
who  does  not  do  those  things  which  it  thinks  he 
should  do.     For  the  mass  to  do  more  than  this,  he 

15 


LIBRARIES 

says,  is  so  to  restrict  individual  activity  and  to  pre- 
vent the  play  of  natural  forces  as  to  make  impossible 
the  development  of  the  only  kind  of  individuals  that 
can  form  the  ideal  society. 

This  is  stating  it  crudely.  It  at  least  suggests, 
however,  that  the  advocate  of  liberty  has  on  his  side 
some  of  the  arguments  gained  from  the  study  of 
biology  and  of  history.  The  former  seems  to  tell  us 
that  the  fittest  have  survived  in  open  fight— that  only 
by  this  open  fight  do  those  more  fit  appeal- ;  the  latter 
seems  to  tell  us  that  the  better  government  governs 
the  least;  that  the  only  wise  thing  the  ruler,  whether 
king  or  majority,  can  do  for  the  social  organism  is 
to  let  it  alone. 

If  it  is  of  doubtful  expediency,  then,  for  the  sov- 
ereign majority  to  take  from  the  individual  by  force 
the  means  wherewith  to  maintain  a  library  for  the 
pleasure  and  edification  of  all,  it  is  the  part  of  wis- 
dom to  see  that  that  library  is  made,  as  far  as  may 
be,  the  sure  antidote  to  the  possible  bane  of  its  origin. 
It  must  teach  freedom,  by  its  contents  and  by  its 
administration.  It  must  cultivate  the  individual.  It 
must  add  to  the  joy  of  life.  Always  it  must  truly 
educate. 

It  is  in  the  light  of  the  preceding,  perhaps  rather 
doctrinaire,  remarks  that  the  following  notes  have 
been  written  and  should  be  read. 

The  public  owns  its  public  library.  Tliis  fact 
sheds  much  light  on  the  question  of  public  library 
management.  It  means  that  the  public  library  must 
be  fitted  to  public  needs.  It  must  suit  its  com- 
munity. It  must  do  the  maximum  of  work  at  the 
minimum  of  expense.  It  must  be  an  economical  edu- 
cational machine.  It  must  give  pleasure,  for  only 
where  pleasure  is  is  any  profit  taken.     It  must  change 

16 


THE  rUBLlC  AND  ITS  LlIiRARY 

ill  its  manner  of  administration  with  tlie  new  time, 
with  the  new  relations  of  books  to  men  and  of  men 
to  books.  It  need  not  altogether  forget  the  book- 
worm or  the  belated  liistorian,  and  it  can  take  note 
here  and  there  of  the  lover  of  the  dodos  and  the  freaks 
among  printed  things.  Bnt  its  prime  purpose  is  to 
place  the  rigiit  books  in  the  proper  hands,  to  get  more 
joyful  and  wise  thoughts  into  the  minds  of  its  owners. 
The  means  of  its  sn])port  are  taken  b}-  force  from 
the  pockets  of  the  competent  and  provident;  this  fact 
should  never  be  lost  sight  of.  It  lives  in  a  measure 
by  the  sword.  It  can  justify  itself  in  this  manner  of 
securing  its  support  only  by  putting  into  practice  the 
familiar  theory  that  the  state,  would  it  insure  its  own 
continuance,  must  see  that  all  its  citizens  have  access 
to  the  stores,  in  books,  of  knowledge  and  wisdom.  It 
must  be  open  to  its  public ;  it  must  invite  its  public ; 
it  must  attract  its  public ;  it  must  please  its  public — 
all  to  the  end  that  it  may  educate  its  public. 

The  old-time  library  was  simply  a  storehouse  of 
treasures.  There  were  few  to  read  books ;  there  were 
few  books  to  be  read,  and  those  few  were  procured 
at  great  cost  of  lalior  and  time.  They  could  be 
replaced  when  lost  or  stolen  only  with  great  diffi- 
culty, if  at  all,  and  they  were  guarded  with  exceeding 
care.  With  the  cheajiening  of  book-producing  pro- 
cesses the  reasons  for  this  extreme  safe-guarding  of 
books  disappeared.  Its  spirit,  hoAvever,  is  still  active. 
Several  causes  have  combined  to  keep  it  alive.  Even 
to  this  day  there  are  a  few  books,  relatively  very 
few,  which  are  of  great  value  and  can  be  replaced 
only  with  extreme  difficulty  or  at  great  expense. 
There  are  also  books — first  editions,  fine  bindings, 
last  surviving  copies,  and  early  specimens  of  printing 
— which  are  rightly  much  prized  by  the  artist,  the 

17 


LIBRARIES 

antiquarian,  the  curio  hunter,  or  the  historian  of 
handicraft.  These  are  all  most  properly-  regarded  as 
treasures,  and  are  kept  under  lock  and  key.  But  the 
fact  that  there  are  a  few  books  which  should  be  care- 
fully preserved  from  loss  or  injury  is  not  sufficient 
cause  for  keeping  uf>  in  these  days  a  barrier  between 
the  public  and  its  library.  Set  aside  these  greatly 
valued  books  and  the  few  Avorks  highl}^  prized  for  cer- 
tain special  reasons  which  the  average  library  con- 
tains, and  there  is  left  the  great  body  of  modern 
books,  not  expensive,  easilj'  replaced,  and  of  far  more 
importance  to  ninety-nine  in  a  hundred  of  any  public 
library's  constituents  than  all  the  book  curios  the 
world  contains.  In  sii\j  save  the  very  richest  and 
largest  libraries  in  this  country  the  books  which  can- 
not be  duplicated  at  a  reasonable  cost  have  no  proper 
place.  It  is  with  the  modern,  inexpensive  works  that 
the  public  library  chiefly  coaicerns  itself.  Its  art 
publications  and  its  rarities  of  every  kind  can  easily 
be  disposed  of  in  safety  vaults  or  private  rooms.  Its 
more  valuable  works  of  reference  can  be  guarded  from 
any  probable  mutilation  by  a  little  special  service. 
Its  main  collection,  60  to  80  per  cent  of  the  average 
library,  is  what  the  public  wishes  to  use.  These  form 
any  librar^^'s  real  tools  in  its  avowed  purpose  of 
aiding  in  the  education  of  the  community  in  which  it 
is  placed. 

The  readers  of  books,  moreover,  are  no  longer  few 
but  many,  and  have  greatly  changed  their  manner  of 
looking  at  books  and  the  guardianship  of  them  in  the 
past  hundred  years.  The  tax-paying  citizen  to-day 
has  his  own  daily  or  weekly  paper,  if  nothing  more, 
and  knows  well  that  a  printed  page  is  no  longer  a 
sacred  or  an  expensive  thing.  He  walks  up  to  the 
shelves  of  the  bookstore  or  to  the  counter  of  the  news- 

18 


THE  PUBLIC  AND  ITS  LIBRARY 

stand  and  selects  his  own  reading,  under  his  own 
rules,  in  accordance  with  his  own  opinion  of  his  needs, 
and  after  an  actual  inspection  of  what  the  shelves 
can  afford  him.  He  has  learned,  or  is  fast  learning, 
that  public  library  treasures  are  in  the  main  treas- 
ures no  longer;  that  the  only  rational  selection  of 
reading  is  one  made  after  the  examination  of  many 
books ;  and  he  is  beginning  to  demand  that  he  be  per- 
mitted to  come  in  immediate  contact  with  the  volumes 
he  is  invited  to  read.  The  public  library,  whether  it 
be  a  library  which  the  people  are  taxed  to  maintain 
or  a  library  which  belongs  to  them  by  gift,  must,  so 
the  demand  goes,  be  managed  with  as  much  consid- 
eration for  its  patrons  and  with  as  much  appearance 
of  faith  in  their  honesty  as  the  ready-made-clothing 
house  or  the  bookstore.  This  demand  is  seconded  by 
the  new  view^  of  the  functions  of  a  public  library;  it 
is,  in  fact,  a  i^art  of  this  new  view.  The  library  is 
no  longer  looked  upon  as  a  storehouse  of  learning,  to 
be  used  by  the  few  already  learned;  it  is  thought  of 
as  a  factor  in  the  growth  of  the  community  in  wisdom, 
in  social  ef&ciency,  and  a  factor  therein  second  only 
to  the  public  schools,  if  second  even  to  them.  It  is 
accordingly  widening  its  business  of  book  distrib- 
uting by  the  addition  of  the  powers  possible  to  it  as 
a  laboratory  of  general  learning.  Of  books  it  is  as 
true  as  of  the  materials  of  chemistry,  botany,  or 
biology — and  even  the  non-literary,  wayfaring  man 
begins  to  see  this — that  only  by  working  among  them 
and  with  them  can  one  get  out  of  them  their  real 
worth.  The  public  to-day,  in  a  word,  sees  the  impor- 
tance, the  absolute  necessity,  in  fact,  of  the  laboratory 
method  in  that  study  of  books  which  underlies,  or  at 
least  accompanies,  the  study  of  all  other  things. 

In  its  attractiveness  to  the  "would-be  student,  not 

19 


LIBRARIES 

to  mention  the  desultory  reader,  the  library  whose 
resources  are  open  for  examination  and  selection  is 
far  superior  to  the  one  which  keeps  its  patrons  on 
the  outside  of  the  delivery  desk.  The  book  buyer 
finds  delight  in  a  personal  inspection  of  the  volumes 
he  would  select  from.  It  is  by  the  unrestrained 
broAVsing  through  a  score  of  inviting  volumes  that  the 
student,  whether  beginner  or  expert,  finds  at  last  the 
one  which  meets  his  case.  To  all  who  are  drawn, 
whether  in  ignorant  questioning  or  in  enlightened 
zeal,  to  visit  a  collection  of  books,  the  touch  of  the 
books  themselves,  the  joy  of  their  immediate  presence, 
is  an  inspiring  thing.  Those  who  have  had  experi- 
ence of  both  methods  testify  that  the  oj)en  library 
gives  more  pleasure,  encourages  reading  of  a  higher 
grade,  and  attracts  more  readers  than  the  library 
which  is  closed  to  the  public. 

The  cheapness  of  books;  the  growth  of  the  public's 
feeling  of  ownership  in  its  library,  and  of  the  pro- 
priety of  laying  hands  on  its  own;  a  recognition  of 
the  great  educational  value  of  the  laboratory  method 
in  library  administration;  and  the  widening  of  its 
field  of  work  which  a  library  gains  by  the  added 
attraction  of  free  access  to  its  shelves — these  con- 
siderations, save  in  certain  peculiar  cases,  seem  to 
decide  the  question  of  the  proper  policy  of  the  public 
library  toward  its  public.  That  more  communities 
do  not  now  demand  the  adoption  of  the  system  of 
open  shelves  in  their  public  libraries  is  due  largely  to 
the  conservatism  of  library  boards,  and  to  an  unrea- 
soning submission  to  authority  on  the  part  of  the 
reading  i)ublic.  Even  the  enlightened  are  slow  to 
ask  for  a  right  before  they  have  exercised  it  and 
experienced  its  advantages. 

These  statements  of  i)roper  library  methods  will 

20 


THE  PUBLIC  AND  ITS  LIBRARY 

seem  to  the  reader  who  is  uot  familiar  with  public 
library  methods  as  the}^  are,  simple,  commonplace, 
and  self-evident.  He  may  well  wonder  why  one  takes 
the  trouble  to  repeat  them  in  print.  By  way  of  justi- 
fication it  should  be  said  that  the  manner  of  conduct- 
ing a  public  library  now  in  .iilmost  universal  use  in 
this  country  is  this:  Between  the  books  and  the 
would-be  users  of  them  is  placed  an  insurmountable 
physical  barrier.  At  this  barrier  stand  librarian 
and  attendants.  The  reader  or  student  floundeirs 
about  in  a  list  of  the  library's  books  until  he  arrives 
at  a  guess — it  is  often  not  more  than  a  guess — at  the 
titles  of  the  books  he  wishes.  A  list  of  these  books 
he  hands  over  the  barrier  to  the  attendant,  and  of 
them  the  attendants  brings  him  the  first  one  that 
happens  to  be  in.  Perhaps  he  wishes  to  make  a  study 
of  some  subject.  Generally,  in  such  a  case,  he  must 
make  out  a  list  from  a  brief  catalogue  of  the  books 
which  he  thinks  may  help  him,  and  of  the  titles  of 
articles  which  he  surmises  Avill  be  useful  in  files  of 
periodicals  or  proceedings.  This  list,  handed  to  the 
attendant,  brings  him  some  of  the  things  called  for. 
Half  of  them  are  probably  not  what  he  expected,  and 
he  must  try  again.  Always  between  him  and  the 
sources  of  information  the  personality  of  librarian  or 
attendant  obtrudes  itself.  His  wants  must  trickle 
over  a  library  counter,  and  then  must  filter  through 
the  mind  of  a  custodian  who  is  perhaps  not  very  in- 
telligent and  is  probably  not  very  sympatlietic,  before 
they  can  be  satisfied  by  contact  with  the  books  them- 
selves. In  a  good  many  libraries  a  few  reference 
books  are  placed  where  any  one  can  reacli  them.  But 
this  is  in  most  cases  the  limit  of  the  concession  made 
to  the  demand  for  immediate  contact  with  the  li- 
brary's resources.     The  new  library  in  Boston  has 

21 


LIBRARIES 

stored  the  most  of  its  popular  books,  tlie  books  which 
the  majority  of  its  patrons  most  call  for,  in  a  dark 
warehouse,  lighted  only  by  artiticial  light,  and 
reached,  as  far  as  the  borrower  is  concerned,  only  by 
mechanical  contrivances  which  compel  a  wait  of  sev- 
eral minutes  for  every  book  called  for.  The  borrower 
cannot  see  the  books;  he  cannot  even  see  the  person 
who  does  see  them.  He  must  depend  on  lists,  tele- 
phones, pneumatic  tubes,  and  traveling  baskets — and 
this  in  the  most  expensive  and  most  extensive  and 
most  famous  library  in  the  United  States  to-day. 
What,  now,  the  open-shelf  method  of  administra- 
tion being  decided  upon,  should  be  the  character  of 
the  building  in  which  the  public  library  is  housed? 
The  storehouse  idea  must  be  discarded  at  once.  What 
is  wanted  is  a  workshop,  a  place  for  readers  and 
students,  not  a  safety-deposit  building.  The  men  and 
women  who  visit  the  library  and  use  it — their  con- 
venience and  comfort  must  be  first  consulted ;  how  the 
books  are  to  be  stored  is  another  and  a  secondary 
question.  Nor  can  the  monumental  idea  be  for  a 
moment  maintained.  The  library,  if  it  is  to  be  a  mod- 
ern, effective,  working  institution,  cannot  forego  the 
demands  of  its  daily  tenants  for  light,  room,  and  air, 
and  submit  to  the  limitations  set  by  calls  for  archi- 
tectural effects,  for  imposing  halls,  charming  vistas, 
and  opportunities  for  decoration.  The  workshop,  the 
factory,  the  office  building,  the  modern  business  struc- 
ture of  almost  any  kind,  these,  rather  than  the  palace, 
the  temple,  the  cathedral,  the  memorial  hall,  or  the 
mortuary  pile,  however  grand,  supply  the  examples 
in  general  accordance  with  which  the  modern  book 
laboratory  should  be  constructed.  It  is  a  place,  is 
this  book  laboratory,  in  which  each  day  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  visitors  must,   for  ten  minutes  or   as 

22 


THE  PUBLIC  AND  ITS  LIBRARY 

many  hours,  use  their  eyes  in  reading  type  of  all 
degrees  of  excellence  and  badness.  First,  then,  every 
sacrifice  must  be  made  to  secure  all  possible  daylight 
in  every  corner.  It  is  a  place,  again,  in  which  many 
of  the  daily  visitors  will  wish  to  go,  at  the  same  time, 
to  the  same  shelves,  the  same  cases,  the  same  alcoves, 
to  the  same  rooms,  and  the  same  desks  and  tables. 
Space — well-lighted,  well-ventilated  floor  space — then, 
should  be  given  to  the  public  with  the  utmost  prodi- 
gality. There  is  no  room  left,  unless  economy  in  con- 
struction and  administration  be  entirely  disregarded, 
for  architectural  display,  except  as  it  is  the  natural 
outcome  of  plans  based  primarily  on  utility. 

The  power  of  a  library  lies  first  in  its  books.  Up 
to  a  certain  variable  limit,  varying  with  their  char- 
acter and  with  the  time  and  the  place,  quantity  of 
books  is  of  first  importance.  As  the  library  sup- 
ported by  compulsory  taxation  is  justified  only  as  it 
serves  to  make  the  ignorant  citizen  wise  and  the  wise 
citizen  wiser  still,  its  first  care  should  be  for  its  sup- 
ply of  tools — its  implements  for  cultivating  wisdom — 
its  books.  The  library  building,  as  of  the  second  and 
not  of  the  first  importance,  should  therefore  be  eco- 
nomical in  its  construction.  It  need  not  be,  it  should 
not  be,  penurious  in  its  appearance.  To  a  limited 
extent  it  may  speak  to  the  passer-by  of  the  generosity 
of  the  community,  of  the  respect  in  which  its  builders 
hold  the  business  of  education.  But  if  solid  and 
plain  and  manifestly  adapted  to  the  purpose  for  which 
it  is  designed,  it  cannot  well  escape  the  attributes  of 
dignity,  and,  to  the  reasoning  observer,  of  beauty. 
The  magnificent  pile,  to  which  architect  and  trustee 
can  point  the  casual  passer-by  with  pride,  which  may 
aAve  the  taxpayer  into  forgetfulness  of  the  contrac- 
tor's bills,  this  has  no  excuse.     It  comes,  and  it  prom- 

23 


LIBRARIES 

ises  to  come  often ;  but  it  is  permitted  by  the  populace 
in  momentary  forget  fulness  of  the  public  library's 
excuse  and  function,  not  in  reasoned  belief  in  the 
utility  of  bibliothecal  palaces. 

The  free  public  library  building,  large  or  small — 
and  of  the  college,  university,  or  reference  library  the 
same  may  be  said — so  constructed  as  to  serve  thor- 
oughly well  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  intended, 
exists  in  theory  only.  It  may  be  possible  to  find  in 
this  country  a  few  small  libraries  in  which  an  honest 
attempt  has  been  made,  with  moderate  success,  to 
grapple  witli  the  library  building  problem.  In  the 
vast  majority  of  cases  such  light  as  experience  in 
library  administration  is  able  to  throw  on  the  ques- 
tion of  the  proper  internal  arrangement  of  a  library 
building — the  proper  distribution  of  expenditure  in 
securing  room,  light,  ventilation,  and  workableness 
— has  been  sini])ly  ignored.  Arguments  drawn  from 
utility,  from  comfort  of  readers  and  borrowers,  and 
from  economy  of  administration,  have  been  set  aside. 
Full  rein  often,  the  loose  rein  always,  has  been  given 
to  trustees*  and  architects'  desires  for  architectural 
effect.  This  is  the  more  strange  because  certain  prin- 
ciples of  library  construction  are  well  understood  and 
are  no  longer  matters  for  debate. 

Convenient,  economical,  effective  administration 
of  a  library  calls  for  greater  ease  of  access  and  facil- 
ity of  communication  in  tlie  building  used  than  does 
any  other  ffu-ni  of  l)usiness,  be  it  industrial,  commer- 
cial, official,  administrative,  or  religious.  And  this 
need  for  ease  and  speed  in  intercommunication  in- 
creases ratlier  tlian  diminislies  witli  the  increase  in 
tlie  size  of  tlie  library,  and  in  the  number  of  its 
]>atr<»ns.  lllnslrntions  of  liow  tbis  general  i)rincii)le 
of  library  constrnction  bas  b(M^n  ignored  may  be  easily 

24 


THE  PUBLIC  AND  ITS  LIBRARY 

found.  To  note  the  Newberry  Library  in  Chicago 
and  the  Boston  Public  Library  is  here  sufficient. 
Compare  tlie  accommodation  possible  for  the  busy 
and  impatient  patron — and  the  busy  and  impatient 
patron  is  one  of  the  patrons  the  modern  library 
should  especially  strive  to  serve — in  these  ill-adapted 
structures  with  that  possible,  with  a  few  quite  minor 
changes,  in  the  modern  tall  office  building,  and  the 
point  is  made  clear  at  once.  The  whole  monumental 
style  of  library  architecture  is  almost  of  necessity  the 
greatest  of  handicaps  to  library  administration.  It 
may  be  said,  of  course,  that  it  is  sometimes  advisable 
to  erect  first  a  noble  monument,  then  to  make  out 
of  it  as  good  a  library  as  its  monumental  cliaracter 
permits.  Granted.  But  it  should  be  thoroughly  un- 
derstood, when  such  a  buirding  is  up  for  considera- 
tion, that  it  is  a  monument,  not  a  library.  When  our 
architects  have  fully  seized  the  modern  situation  in 
its  demands  and  its  materials;  when  the  spirit  which 
put  up  the  lying  exteriors  of  the  Chicago  World's 
Fair  buildings,  and  thereby  delayed  our  architectural 
emancipation  by  many  a  long  day,  has  begun  to  die 
out,  it  may  be  possible  to  erect  a  tlioroughly  useful 
and  entirely  workable  building  wliicli  shall  be  in 
every  part  a  library  and  also  an  artistic  monument. 

The  point  in  the  free  public  library  to  which  the 
public  comes  in  the  largest  numbers  is  the  delivery 
desk.  The  public  side  of  tliis  desk  should  be  a  room 
easy  of  access  from  the  street,  with  cloak  and  toilet 
rooms  near  its  entrance;  well  lighted,  that  catalogues 
and  lists  may  be  easily  consulted,  and  that  the  work 
of  the  assistants  may  be  done  in  the  main  without 
artificial  light;  large  enough  to  accommodate  com- 
fortably the  greatest  crowd  the  library  expects  ever 
to  attract;  and  so  closed  in  that  the  talk  and  move- 

25 


LIBRARIES 

ment  wliicli  necessarily  accompauy  intercourse  be- 
tween visitors  and  the  library  staff  will  not  disturb 
workers  or  readers  in  other  parts  of  the  library.  A 
corner  of  this  room,  easy  of  access  from  the  desk, 
should  be  devoted  to  the  information  desk,  at  which 
the  stranger  or  the  student  Avill  get  prompt  and  cour- 
teous and  full  replies  to  all  questions  in  regard  to  the 
library's  methods  and  resources,  and  suggestions  in 
regard  to  books  or  departments  to  be  consulted  on 
an}'  specific  topic.  Near  this  information  desk 
should  be  the  desk  at  which  borrowers'  or  members' 
cards,  permits,  etc.,  are  issued.  In  the  delivery  room, 
or  in  a  room  opening  from  it,  should  be  the  catalogue 
resources  of  the  library.  The  desk  should  be  so  con- 
structed as  to  serve  as  an  aid  in  the  transaction  of 
business — as  a  means  of  communication,  not  as  a 
barrier — betAveen  the  assistants  and  the  public.  Near 
to  it  and  easy  of  access  should  be  the  books  of  the 
lending  department;  nearest  to  it,  those  most  used. 
If  for  good  reason  it  is  found  necessary  to  forbid  the 
public  access  to  any  part  of  the  lending  department, 
it  may  prove  advisable  to  place  such  part  at  some 
distance  from  the  delivery  counter,  and  to  move  the 
books  to  and  fro  by  means  of  lifts,  belts,  or  like 
devices.  But  any  plan  by  Avhich  the  attendant,  to 
whom  a  request  for  certain  books  is  made,  is  pre- 
vented from  easy  access  to  them,  stands  in  the  way 
of  the  library's  educational  Avork,  especially  AA'here 
the  would-be  borrower  is  himself  denied  the  oppor- 
tunity to  see  for  himself,  in  any  department,  the 
books  he  would  select  from.  If  a  book  asked  for  is 
not  in,  another  of  equal  or  greater  A'alue  on  the  same 
subject  may  be  in.  The  borrower,  denied  access  to 
the  shelves,  should  at  least  have,  if  he  Avishes  it,  the 
benefit  of  the  attendant's  knoAvledge  of  this  fact.     A 

'  2G 


THE  PUBLIC  AND  ITS  LIBRARY 

delivery  service  made  up  largely  of  mechanical  con- 
trivances may  easily  put  into  the  hands  of  the  public 
several  thousand  books  in  a  day.  It  may  serve  a 
good  purpose  in  so  doing.  It  may  find  its  proper 
field  in  performing  part  of  the  book-lending  work  in 
any  large  library.  But  it  certainly  cannot  compete, 
from  an  educational  point  of  view,  with  a  service  in 
which  the  attendant  puts  himself  for  the  moment  in 
the  inquirer's  place,  and  himself  goes  to  the  shelves 
with  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  inquirer's  wants. 

Near  the  desk  should  be  the  catalogue  room;  and 
the  private  official  catalogue  of  the  library  should  be 
open  to  the  public,  if  possible.  Such  an  arrangement 
saves  much  costly  duplication.  It  is  also  desirable 
to  have  the  information  about  the  library's  books 
which  is  stored  up  in  the  catalogue  room  made 
available  for  the  public  at  short  notice. 

Near  the  deliver3^  room  and  not  far  from  the  main 
book  room  should  be  a  special  room  for  children,  in 
which  may  be  kept  all  juvenile  literature,  so  arranged 
tliat  the  children  may  make  their  own  choice  from 
the  shelves.  This  will  prove  a  strong  attraction  to 
the  young  people,  will  increase  their  use  of  books  of 
the  better  class,  will  free  other  parts  of  the  library 
from  the  disturbance  children  necessarily  entail,  and 
will  save  time  and  labor  at  the  delivery  counter. 

The  room  for  reference  w^ork,  if  the  whole  library 
is  not  thrown  open  for  this  purpose,  must  be  not  far 
from  the  main  book  room,  must  be  near  the  catalogue, 
and  should  be  near  the  delivery  counter.  It  should 
be  so  planned  that  those  who  come  to  the  library 
simply  for  a  book,  or  to  ask  a  question,  or  on  sight- 
seeing, will  not  be  compelled  to  pass  through  it. 

The  retiring  rooms  and  lunch  rooms  for  assistants, 
the  conversation  or  class  rooms  for  special  work,  the 

27 


LIBRARIES 

rooms  for  roni^li  work — as  meuding  or  binding  and 
the  manual  part  of  tlie  preparation  of  books  for  the 
shelf — the  periodical  room,  and  the  newspaper  room 
can  all  be  placed  at  a  distance  from  the  library's  real 
center,  the  delivery  counter ;  though  the  last  two  must 
be  near  enough  to  the  reference  room  to  make  it 
easy  for  readers  in  the  hitter  to  consult  the  current 
numbers  of  magazines  and  journals. 

The  office  of  the  librarian  in  charge  should  be  near 
to  the  delivery  room,  and  preferably  not  far  from 
either  catalogue  or  reference  room. 

The  books  in  the  pul)lic  library  sliould  be  selected 
with  reference  to  tlie  people  who  will  use  them.  The 
people  who  make  use  of  the  free  public  library  are, 
60  per  cent  or  more  of  them,  readers  of  little  but  the 
newspapers,  the  popular  nmgazine,  and  novels.  The 
reading  room  should  supply,  and  generously,  the 
newspaper  and  the  periodical.  The  circulating  de- 
partment should  put  much  thought  and  much  energy 
into  fiction.  The  fiction  shelves,  perhaps  above  all 
others,  should  be  open  to  the  public.  If  they  are  tlms 
open,  the  question  of  how  low  in  the  scale  of  literature 
the  library  must  descend  in  its  selection  of  novels  to 
attract  as  many  readers  as  its  income  will  permit  it 
to  supply  will  almost  solve  itself.  Liberty  to  go  to  a 
collection  of  novels,  embracing  the  best  works  of  the 
best  writers  of  all  countries  and  all  ages,  will  be 
attraction  enough.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  put 
on  the  shelves  books  of  the  Bouthworth,  the  Roe,  and 
the  Mary  J.  Holmes  school  to  draw  to  the  library  the 
ignorant  and  inexperienced.  Such  readers  are  wedded 
to  their  literary  idols,  not  because  they  find  them 
best,  but  because  they  know  no  others.  They  will 
not  often  take  the  evidence  of  expert  or  of  catalogue 

2S 


THE  PUBLIC  AND  ITS  LIBRAEY 

that  there  are  other  j^ood  novels  than  those  of  which 
they  have  heard  from  fellow-readers.  But  the  book 
itself  of  the  unknown  writer,  placed  in  easy  reach, 
with  attractive  title,  cover,  and  illustrations,  will 
prove  irresistible.  Liberty  to  see,  touch,  peep  into, 
and  taste  the  new  and  heretofore  untried  will  set 
the  known  and  the  unknown  on  the  same  plane  in 
the  mind  of  the  inexperienced;  and  the  unknown,  if 
the  better  book  and  if  selected  Avith  an  eye  to  the 
library's  constituency,  will  gain  the  day.  The  hori- 
zon of  the  inexperienced  reader  will,  in  such  a  library, 
soon  widen.  The  devotee  of  mush  and  slush  will, 
under  her  own  guidance,  following  her  own  sweet 
will,  almost  unconsciously  rise  to  a  higher  plane. 
She  will  be  proud  to  think  that  she  has  found  possi- 
bilities of  pleasure  in  good  authors  whom  she  herself 
has  had  the  wit  to  discover.  The  fiction  list  then 
will  not  be  long  and  will  be  select.  Two  thousand 
titles,  many  times  duplicated,  will  cover  the  field. 

With  the  shelves  open,  witli  full  liberty  of  choice 
given,  the  obliging  attendant  will  be  all  the  more 
appreciated.  He  will  obtrude  no  opinions  and  no 
advice,  but  will  be  ready  and  able  to  give  both,  if 
asked,  or  if  opportunity  offers.  He  will  be  supple- 
mented with  catalogues.  And  just  as  the  library 
will  make  its  fiction  department — the  department  in 
which  it  will  first  reach,  by  which  perhaps  it  can 
alone  reach,  from  60  to  80  per  cent  of  its  visitors— 
the  most  attractive  and  most  carefully  administered 
of  all,  so  will  it  for  this  department  best  equip  itself 
with  aids  and  guides.  It  will  have  here  catalogues 
of  the  most  varied  kinds — special  lists,  descriptive 
lists,  like  those  of  Griswold ;  historical  lists,  like  that 
of  the  Boston  Public  Library;  annotated  lists,  like 

29 


LIBRARIES 

that  of  the  San  Francisco  Public  Library;  critical 
journals;  and  books  and  essays  on  the  novel,  its  de- 
velopment and  uses.  In  addition  to  all  these  things, 
it  will  tell  the  inquirer  in  which  novels  he  can  find 
set  forth  great  historical  characters  and  the  promi- 
nent personages  of  fiction;  in  which  he  will  find 
descriptions  of  notable  scenes  and  historical  events; 
in  which  are  found  rare  psychological  analyses,  strik- 
ing descriptions  that  have  become  part  of  the  every- 
day life  of  the  cultivated;  and  discussions  of  social, 
political,  and  religious  questions;  and  which  novels 
will  best  tell  him  of  life  in  this  city,  in  that  country, 
on  the  sea.  In  a  word,  the  public's  free  public  library 
will  recognize  at  last  the  public's  demand  for  the 
novel;  will  not  attempt  to  excuse  it,  to  hide  it,  to 
make  light  of  it,  or  to  counteract  it;  but  will  make 
use  of  it  as  an  educational  force  in  itself,  and  as  a 
point  of  departure  to  more  serious  things.  The 
novel  reader  is  not  a  hopeless  case.  If  he  be  a  con- 
firmed novel  reader  and  nothing  more,  he  has  at 
least  the  reading  habit,  and  in  his  youth  can  in  most 
eases  be  led  from  that  habit  to  question  and  to  think. 

The  reference  room  of  the  free  public  library  is  in 
some  sort  already  here.  Not  a  few  libraries  recog- 
nize the  reasonableness  of  a  demand  on  the  public's 
part  for  access  to  dictionaries,  encyclopedias,  at- 
lases, gazetteers,  and  the  like.  Under  the  modern 
view  the  whole  library  becomes,  of  course,  a  great 
reference  room.  Rut  the  reference  department 
proper,  even  in  the  modern  public  library,  should 
contain  ample  accommodations  in  the  way  of  desks, 
tables,  writing  materials,  etc.,  for  the  casual  inquirer 
or  the  student. 

In  other  departments  the  wants  of  the  reader,  the 

30 


THE  PUBLIC  AND  ITS  LIBRARY 

beginner  in  learning,  should  be  first  supplied,  books 
for  the  specialist  being  added  as  rapidly  and  to  as 
great  an  extent  as  actual  demand  makes  advisable 
and  funds  in  hand  make  possible.  No  money  should 
be  expended  on  mere  literary  curios  or  on  historical 
knickknacks.  The  historical  society  and  the  anti- 
quary can  look  after  these  things,  and  should  not 
have  the  public  purse  for  their  competitor. 

In  accordance  with  the  generar  spirit  of  the  open- 
shelf  method  of  administration,  great  liberality 
should  be  shown  in  the  issuing  of  library  cards.  To 
the  library  itself  for  purposes  of  reference  every  one 
who  applies  will,  of  course,  be  admitted,  so  he  be 
clean  and  reputable  in  appearance.  To  become  an 
accredited  borrower  of  books  from  the  library  one 
should  be  asked  to  do  no  more  than  sign  some  simple 
form  of  agreement.  This,  in  addition  to  the  infor- 
mation which  can  be  obtained  from  a  few  questions 
put  by  librarian  or  assistants,  with  perhaps  a  refer- 
ence to  the  city  directory,  has  proved  to  be  enough  in 
actual  practice  to  x>revent  the  issuing  of  cards  to 
people  who  wish  them  simply  to  make  way  with  the 
library's  books.  In  spite  of  this  fact,  the  custom 
still  holds  in  most  libraries  of  demanding  not  only 
the  signature  of  the  person  who  wishes  to  become  a 
borrower  to  an  elaborate  contract — this  signature  to 
be  written  at  the  library  itself — but  also  the  signa- 
ture of  some  accredited  citizen  who  agrees  to  become 
responsible  for  the  borrower  himself.  This  is  en- 
tirely unnecessary.  The  additional  clerical  work 
involved  in  the  keeping  of  the  two  sets  of  names  of 
borrowers  and  guarantors  of  borrowers,  together 
with  the  labor  necessitated  by  looking  them  up  in 
directories  and   elsewhere,   will  cost  more,   save  in 

31 


LIBRARIES 

very  exceptional  cases,  than  will  the  books  whicli 
may  be  lost  through  the  adoption  of  extreme  liberal- 
ity in  the  issuing  of  borrowers'  cards.  The  people's 
money  in  this  part  of  its  library's  administration,  as 
in  every  other,  should  be  spent  rather  in  extending 
and  making  more  easily  accessible  to  the  average 
citizen  the  library's  resources  than  in  setting  barriers 
of  red  tape  between  the  books  and  the  people  who 
own  them  and  wish  to  use  them. 


32 


THE   FAILUKE   OF   BOOK   REVIEWING 

Springfield,  Mass.,  Rcpuhlicun,  May  23,  WOO 

It  is  part  of  a  librariau's  business  to  know  some- 
thing about  new  books,  to  know  enough  about  them 
to  enable  him  to  decide  wisely  which  of  them  to  buy 
for  a  public  library.  Of  course,  in  very  many  cases 
some  one  whose  judgment  he  can  rely  on,  better 
posted  in  a  special  line  than  any  librarian  can  pos- 
sibly be  in  all  lines,  decides  for  him.  This  is  espe- 
cially true  of  technical  works.  J^ut  there  are  still 
left  many  books  on  which  he  must  form  an  oi)inion 
from  reviews  in  the  literary  journals.,  'And  so  the 
librarian  reads  a  good  many  reviews.  Most  librarians 
probably  do  not  get  much  beyond  the  reviews,  with 
perhaps  a  look  at  the  title  pages  of  the  books  in 
question,  if  he  sees  them  at  all,  and  sometimes  with  a 
luxurious  dip  into  the  table  of  contents.  In  reading 
reviews — I  am  speaking  now  of  reviews  of  "literary" 
books,  not  of  scientific  or  technical  works — many 
librarians  are  impressed,  I  am  sure,  with  the  small 
amount  of  really  helpful  knowledge  to  be  got  from 
most  of  them.  Bj  helpful  knowledge  I  mean  here 
such  information  about  a  book  as  the  librarian  needs 
to  make  a  wise  decision  on  the  question  of  its  pur- 
chase. From  the  formal  entry  in  the  trade  journal 
he  can  learn,  of  course,  of  the  title,  the  author,  the 
publisher,  the  price,  the  size  in  inches,  the  number  of 
pages,  if  bound  or  not,  and  perhaps  the  number  of 
maps  and  illustrations.  But  this  is  only  the  skele- 
ton. Rather  it  is  simply  the  skin  of  the  book,  which 
the  publisher  offers  duly  stretched  into  the  semblance 
of  a  thing  of  value.  It  may  be  stuffed  with  straw, 
or  padded  out  with  sawdust,  or  possibly  it  covers  the 

33 

3 


LIBRARIES 

living  bone,  sinew  and  muscle  of  u  book  that  is  a 
book.  To  find  out  what  may  be  within  the  fair 
exteriors  of  the  latest  thing  out — this  is  where  the 
difficulty  lies.  And  here  is  where  the  literary  jour- 
nals affect  to  serve  us — and  commonly  do  not.  They 
do  not  even  set  forth  all  the  facts  as  to  the  l)ook's 
physique,  its  bodily  condition.  They  uniformly 
withhold  information  as  to  the  paper  on  which  it  is 
printed,  whether  it  is  cheap  wood  pulp  which  will 
not  stand  three  weeks'  honest  wear,  or  heavilj'  coated 
with  clay,  and  therefore  helpless  against  even  the 
quiet  turning  of  its  leaves,  or  made  on  lionor  and 
planned  for  a  decent  lifetime  of  usefulness.  They 
do  not  tell  us  if  it  is  bound  in  a  thorough,  workman- 
like way,  or  is  thrown  together  with  just  enough  of 
muslin  and  glue  to  keep  it  in  shape  until  it  is  sold. 
The  type,  the  ink,  the  index,  the  margins,  the  page 
illustrations — generally  ready  to  fall  out  before  the 
book  has  been  once  read — these  things  they  say  noth- 
ing about.  And  to  the  library  they  are  very  impor- 
tant, and  especially  so  to  the  expense  side  of  its 
accounts  in  new  copies,  repairs  and  binding. 

All  these  matters,  to  be  sure,  the  librarian  can 
judge  of  himself,  with  some  slight  degree  of  accuracy, 
if  he  can  handle  the  book  before  lie  buys  it,  which 
often  he  cannot.  I>ut  to  be  able  to  learn  them  from 
the  reviews,  where  common  sense  would  say  they 
should  be  set  fortli,  would  be  a  very  helpful  thing. 

The  book's  ])liysique,  however,  is,  after  all,  not  as 
important  as  its  character.  And  in  telling  us  of 
this  the  literary  journals  fail  to  live  u])  to  that  which 
they  profess.  Every  lu/w  book  they  mention  is  excel- 
lent. If  one  reads  with  credulous  mind  the  things 
said  by  most  reviewers  about  most  books  one  would 
feel  that  an  Augustan  age  of  letters  comes  round 
again  with  every  rising  sun.     To  test  this  statement 

34 


FAILURE  OF  BOOK  REVIEWING 

a  little  I  have  goue  over  all  tlie  longer  notices  of 
books  in  fonr  literary  journals  for  tAVo  months.  The 
journals  examined  were  the  Bookbuyer,  the  Book- 
man, the  Critic  and  the  Nation.  The  first  two  are 
publishers'  organs,  and  i^erhaps  it  would  be  asking 
too  much  that  they  should  do  anything  but  praise 
their  own  books  and  for  the  sake  of  peace  refrain 
from  condemnation  of  those  of  rival  publishers.  But 
if  this  is  their  policy  they  should  not  cultivate  quite 
so  sedulously  the  air  of  fairness  and  breadth.  And 
of  the  purely  literary  journals  like  the  Critic,  which 
must  support  itself  largely  by  the  advertising  in  one 
column  of  the  books  it  professes  to  criticise  with 
unbiased  mind  in  the  next,  it  is  perhaps  seeking 
grapes  of  thorns  to  expect  unterritied  censure.  But 
the  three  are  in  large  measure  typical,  in  this  country 
at  least,  of  the  journals  to  which  the  book-buyer  must 
turn  for  information  on  the  latest  books.  The  Na- 
tion, as  the  returns  of  my  brief  examination  indi- 
cate, is  almost  in  another  class,  and  helps  to 
relieve  American  book  reviewing  of  the  full  measure 
of  condemnation. 

In  the  four  journals  considered  there  were,  in 
the  two  months'  issues  which  were  examined,  243 
reviews.  In  the  Critic  75,  with  about  470  words  in 
each ;  in  the  Bookman  54,  with  570  words  in  each ; 
in  the  Bookbuyer  60,  with  500  words  in  each ;  and 
in  the  Nation  54,  with  1,020  words  in  each.  These 
54  reviews  in  the  Nation  do  not  include  a  large  num- 
ber of  shorter  notes,  such  as  would  be  ranked  as 
reviews  proper  in  the  other  three  journals,  each  con- 
taining 100  to  300  words.  The  greater  length  of 
the  Nation's  reviews  is  not  due  to  simple  prolixity. 
They  are  in  general  stronger  as  well  as  longer  than 
the  others.  Of  these  reviews  those  dealing  with 
fiction  were  in  the  Critic  28  per  cent,  in  the  Bookman 

35 


LIBKARIES 

50  per  cent,  in  the  Bookbuyer  37  per  cent,  and  in  tlie 
^S'ation  none. 

Had  my  examination  happened  to  cover  one  of  the 
months  in  which  the  Nation's  novel  reader  does  up 
with  a  vigorous  hand  a  batch  of  recent  fiction,  these 
fioures  would  have  been  different.  But  it  would  still 
have  been  true  that  in  that  journal  an  unusually 
small  amount  of  space  is  given  to  novels.  Dividing 
these  243  criticisms  of  recent  books  into  four  classes, 
those  which  very  warmly  praise;  those  which  moder- 
ately praise,  but  very  lightly,  if  at  all,  condemn; 
those  which  take  the  aggravating  middle  ground, 
blowing  neither  hot  nor  cold,  simply  prattling;  and 
those  which  frankly  condemn,  we  get  these  results : 

Total        High 
Journal  reviews     praise 

Critic 75  40 

Bookbuyer 60  31 

Bookman 54  39 

Nation  54  31 

All,  it  will  be  seen,  with  the  exception  of  the  Nation, 
lack  the  courage  of  condemnation.  And  of  the  189 
works  examined  by  the  three  first  named,  154  are 
found  excellent  and  only  nine  are  actually  disap- 
proved of. 

This  table  tells  the  story  of  American  literary 
criticism.  It  is  a  chorus  of  praise.  Of  course  it 
may  be  said  that  literary  journals  do  not  deign  to 
notice  books  that  they  feel  they  cannot  rightly  praise. 
But  they  review  the  popular  literature  of  the  day,  the 
books  that  are  talked  about,  offered  for  sale  every- 
where and  read  by  intelligent  people;  and  to  suppose 
that  all  these  are  worthy  of  a  tithe  of  the  praise  they 
get  from  professional  reviewers  is  simply  absurd. 

36 


Some 
praise 

15 

Saying 
nothing 

17 

Con- 
demn 

3 

20 

4 

o 

9 

5 

1 

8 

1 

14 

FAILURE  OF  BOOK  EEVIEWING 

Book  reviews  are  writteu  to  please  authors — and 
publishers.  It  is  a  pity,  but  it's  true.  Occasionally 
a  journal  fails  to  catch  the  drift  of  things  and  con- 
demns the  wrong  book.  The  Bookman's  one  con- 
demnation in  its  ocean  of  praise  was  directed  against 
"David  Harum,"  Later  the  editor  wrote  a  very  flat- 
tering estimate  of  the  book  in  another  journal,  when 
the  tide  had  turned  strongly  in  its  favor. 

A  good  book  review — I  am  not  speaking  here  of 
"criticism"'  in  the  broader  sense  of  the  word — should 
tell  the  busy  book  buyer  and  the  busy  reader  who 
wants  to  know  about  the  books  he  cannot  read  or 
even  see,  these  things : 

What  the  book  is  about;  with  what  authority  the 
author  speaks;  what  part  of  his  field  he  covers;  with 
what  degree  of  definiteness  he  covers  it;  the  relation 
his  work  bears  to  others  in  the  same  or  cognate  fields ; 
if  it  is  well  arranged;  if  it  is  a  book  for  the  student 
and  specialist  or  for  the  general  reader. 

By  a  man  who  knows  his  subject,  these  things 
can  be  told  in  a  few  words.  They  are  told  in  the 
columns  of  the  Nation  and  a  few  other  journals  not 
infrequently..  Generally  the  reviewers  do  not  set 
them  forth,  and  sad  experience  leads  the  reader  to 
feel  that  the  study  of  book  revicAvs  simply  leads  him 
astray.     They  generally  darken  counsel. 

An  illustration  of  how  books  ought  to  be  reviewed 
— ought  to  be,  that  is,  if  the  reviews  are  to  be  help- 
ful guides  in  book-buying — is  found  in  the  admir- 
able "List  of  books  for  girls  and  women  and  their 
clubs,"  compiled  by  George  lies.  The  work  was 
largely  done  by  experts.  They  felt  they  were  un- 
trammeled  by  an  advertising  agent,  and  they  spoke 
their  minds.  It  is  a  pity  there  is  not  more  such  work 
available. 

37 


A  LIBKARIAN'S  ENTHUSIASM 

Bulletin  of  the  Neic  Hampshire  Library  Commission, 
March,  1901 

I  have  known  many  librarians  and  library  assist- 
ants, old  and  yonng,  and  every  one  of  them  has 
testified,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  keen  delight  in  his 
work.  Few  leave  the  profession  and  they  always 
with  regrets.  The  work  is  not  easy  and  the  pay  is 
not  large. 

Our  calling  would  seem  to  have  strong  attractions 
for  people  of  a  certain  type — and  so  it  has.  Of  the 
many  which  may  be  mentioned  I  wish  to  speak  here 
of  two  only :  the  opportunities  it  offers  for  the  promo- 
tion of  happiness,  and  its  wide  variety  of  interests. 
Attractive  careers  in  the  field  of  altruism  are  not 
open  to  every  one.  The  world's  work  must  be  done. 
That  it  may  be  done  well,  those  most  competent  must 
do  it.  That  the  most  competent  may  do  it,  they  must 
compete  with  the  less  competent,  and  must  win  the 
day.  Here,  then,  are  war,  victory,  defeat,  and  the 
spoils  of  conquest.  Nature,  red  in  tooth  and  claw, 
comes  perforce  into  every  factory  and  every  market, 
and  comes  to  stay.  Sympathy  softens  the  aspect  of 
this  strife  and  tempers  the  sufferings  of  the  defeated. 
But  the  strife  goes  on ;  and  neither  legislative  enact- 
ment nor  public  opinion,  even  though  born  of  gener- 
ous sentiments,  can  stop  it;  and  if  they  are  carried 
beyond  a  certain  point,  they  but  forbid  the  supremacy 
of  the  most  competent  and  work  us  harm.  Business 
must  be  done;  most  must  engage  in  business;  there- 
fore, most  must  do  battle  day  by  day. 

But,  if  libraries  are  good  things,  and  it  is  impos- 
sible now  to  question  this;  and  if  free,  tax-supported 

39 


LIBRARIES 

libraries  are  good  tilings,  and  to-day  it  is  not  easy  to 
question  this ;  then  we  have  in  the  librarian's  calling 
a  lield  in  which  competition  is  simply  a  joyful  one 
over  efficiency  in  good  works.  It  is  not — and  this 
cannot  be  said  too  often — a  question  of  making  others 
good.  They  who  are  much  given  to  improving  the 
low  morals  of  others  are  already  Pharisees.  The 
whole  question  of  librarianship  is  one  of  joy,  of  pleas- 
ure, of  fullness  of  life,  of  happiness.  If  the  librarian 
of  the  country  village,  for  example,  can  see  that  her 
little  collection  of  books,  under  her  clever  rule,  subtly 
fitted  to  its  owners,  wisely  meeting  the  needs  its  own 
active  presence  arouses,  makes  this  one  and  that  one, 
old  and  young,  here  and  there,  see  more  things,  know 
of  more  things,  care  for  more  things,  take  the  broader 
view,  loose  the  bond  of  bigotry,  open  the  eyes  of 
charity,  teach  "of  course"  to  wait  upon  "perhaps," 
change  self-satisfaction  to  ambition,  and  add  sparkle 
to  the  daily  grind — then,  is  she  not  a  friend  of  society 
and  of  some  good  in  the  world? 

This  mere  mention  of  the  character  of  the 
librarian's  career,  shows  it  at  once  to  be  helpfully 
unselfish  in  its  essence,  as  few  careers  in  the  world's 
field  of  work  can  be.  It  calls  attention,  also,  to  the 
second  of  the  two  attractive  features  in  the  librarian's 
calling  which  I  wish  here  to  emphasize :  the  variety  of 
its  interests.  All  knowledge  is  the  librarian's  prov- 
ince. None  can  explore  this  domain  thoroughly,  but 
any  one  can  realize,  if  only  vaguely,  its  immensity, 
can  look  upon  it  reverently  and  can  venture,  with 
timorous  delight,  into  a  corner  here  and  there.  Some 
one  should  write  us  an  essay,  or  perhaps  a  poem,  on 
"Our  Pleasure  in  the  Books  We  Cannot  Read!" 
What  joy  there  is,  as  we  walk  among  the  shelves,  in 
the  contemplation  of  the  knowledge  and  wisdom  that 

40 


A  LIBRARIAN'S  ENTHUSIASM 

we  know  lie  liere,  aud  there!  Some  day  we  shall 
have  the  "Ballad  of  Him  who  Joyed  to  Know  that 
Others  Knew." 

And  the  work  to  be  done!  First,  in  the  library 
itself;  no  matter  how  small  it  may  be,  the  librarian 
gets  pleasnre  in  applying  to  its  management  every 
latest  method  of  arrangement,  classification,  cata- 
loguing, shelving,  delivery,  access,  that  she  finds  by 
careful  study  applies  to  her  peculiar  case.  It  soon 
takes  on  for  her  the  air  of  a  home.  She  says  of  it : 
That  which  my  jjeople  enjoy  when  they  visit  my  home 
fireside,  that  they  shall  find  and  enjoy  here.  Light, 
fresh  air,  adornment,  neatness,  refinement,  hospital- 
ity, cheer — in  all  these  things  my  library  shall  rival 
the  most  attractive  home  in  the  town  which  owns  it. 
This  is  not  an  office,  or  a  store,  or  a  factory;  it  is 
the  chosen  home  of  the  good  and  wise  men  who  wrote 
these  books;  it  is  constituted  and  maintained  to  help 
my  fellow  villagers  to  find  life  easier  and  brighter 
and  more  worth  the  living;  it  shall  speak  at  once  to 
every  comer  of  all  these  things.  This  is  home-making 
and  library  management — two  of  the  best  and  most 
delightful  of  occupations,  both  in  one. 

Looking  abroad,  she  sees  the  editor,  the  preacher, 
the  teacher,  and  the  scholar,  and  says  at  once :  These 
are  all  on  my  side  and  must  work  with  me.  Their 
work  is  not  mine,  but  mine  is  surely  a  part  of  theirs. 
She  finds  they  meet  her  halfway,  and  more.  Her 
books  have  allies  in  their  work.  They  become  mobile 
and  move  through  the  community  on  the  wings  of  a 
few  words  spoken  shrewdly  here  and  there  by  these 
their  friends. 

The  pulpit  speaks  and  the  press  and  the  teacher, 
and  clubs  and  Sunday  schools  and  sociables;  and 
every  chance  gathering  of  friends  takes  up  the  words, 

41 


LIBRARIES 

and  the  treasures  on  her  shelves  come  forth  and 
move  about  among  the  people,  and  their  mission  is 
accomplished,  and  the  library  has  wellwishers,  and 
advocates  and  promoters  and  benefactors. 

And  the  children  come,  to  the  very  youngest;  for 
no  one  has  discovered  that  good  books  hurt  children, 
and  children  who  hurt  books  are  few  and  easily  cured. 

Thus,  with  all  knowledge  for  her  province,  with 
old  and  young  of  every  kind  and  of  every  trade  and 
calling  in  her  community  for  her  field  of  work,  and 
the  promotion  of  human  happiness  for  her  aim,  the 
librarian  takes  up  her  daily  task  each  morning  with 
enthusiasm  and  lays  it  down  each  night  with  regret. 


42 


WHAT   WE   READ 

Printed,  in  Part,  in  World's  M'orl^,  March,  1902 

What  is  it  that  the  people  read?  First,  of  course, 
the  newspapers.  There  are  published  in  a  twelve- 
month in  this  country  about  4,500  different  books. 
The  total  number  of  volumes  issued  in  a  year  is 
perhaps  10,0(10,000.  Add  to  these  the  several  million 
volumes,  the  output  of  previous  years,  found  in 
libraries,  and  we  have  a  brave  show  of  possibility  of 
book  reading.  But  it  is  very  largely  a  possibility. 
A  few  hundred  thousand  people  read  novels,  a  less 
number  read  other  books.  A  fe^\  use  books  in  their 
profession,  more  simply  think  they  are  going  to  read 
books  and  rarely  do.  Books  in  these  days  are  for 
pleasure,  for  profit  and  for  pride  of  possession.  But 
newspapers  are  read.  Newspapers  have  readers — or 
die.  They  often  create  a  demand,  but  unless  the 
readers  continue  the  demand  the  supply  must  cease. 
No  newspaper  is  read  from  end  to  end  by  any  one 
of  its  readers.  But  all  of  every  issue  of  every  news- 
paper, take  them  by  and  large,  is  read  by  many 
people.  Again  demand  and  supply  give  us  our  proof. 
The  paper  prints  two  kinds  of  things,  two  kinds 
from  its  own  point  of  view — the  news  and  views  the 
people  wish  to  read,  and  the  announcements  which 
advertisers  wish  to  have  printed.  The  first  kind  of 
print  is  read,  or  it  would  not  appear;  the  second 
kind  is  read  or  the  advertiser  would  find  his  money 
wasted  and  would  advertise  no  more.  All  of  all 
newspapers,  this  is  the  people's  reading.  And  in 
considering  the  gross  amount  of  reading  of  news- 
papers going  on  among  us  to-day  it  is  not  enough  to 
count  simply  the  nmnber  of  copies  of  all  papers  pub- 

43 


LIBRARIES 

lislied;  the  number  of  persons  who  read  each  copy 
must  be  taken  into  consideration.  Nothing  bnt  a 
guess  is  possible.  Mine  is  one  and  a  half  readers 
for  every  copy.  This  seems  modest.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  prove  that  it  is  an  overestimate. 

From  the  total  population  deduct  children  under 
fourteen,  illiterates  and  a  few  other  small  non- 
reading  classes,  and  there  remain  about  40,000,000 
adults  who  could  read  periodicals  if  they  would. 
About  four  billion  separate  copies  of  periodicals  of 
all  kinds  are  printed  in  this  country  every  year,  one 
hundred  to  each  possible  reader.  But  many,  prob- 
ably a  large  majority  of  the  people  who  work  in  mills, 
mines,  factories  and  on  farms  read  very  little,  thougli 
a  goodly  proportion  read  something.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  professional  and  managing  classes  read 
many  more  than  a  hundred  a  year.  Any  reader  of 
this  who  runs  over  a  brief  list  of  his  more  intimate 
friends,  will  find  each  reads,  if  only  hastily,  between 
three  hundred  and  a  thousand.  Instead,  then,  of 
having  forty  million  people  reading  one  hundred  peri- 
odicals in  a  year,  we  have  probably  not  more  than 
half  that  number  reading  on  an  average  twice  as 
many. 

From  the  directories  of  newspapers  and  other 
periodicals  of  the  United  States,  I  have  compiled  the 
statistics  given  in  the  following  tables  that  show 
how  many  dailies,  weeklies  and  monthlies  are  pub- 
lished in  this  country  today.  They  show  also  how 
many  copies  are  issued  in  a  year  of  the  periodicals 
in  each  of  these  classes. 

From  among  the  many  newspapers  in  the  coun- 
try, I  selected  a  few  as  fairly  typical,  and  took  one 
copy  of  each  of  these  few,  published  on  days  when 
no  unusual  space  was  given  to  any  especially  promi- 

44 


WHAT  WE  READ 

nent  topic.  Tlie  eouteiits  of  these  typical  news- 
papers I  aualyzecl,  and  having  made  allowance  for 
room  taken  by  illnstrations,  by  display  advertise- 
ments, and  by  display  headings  on  news  articles, 
tabnlated  their  contents  in  accordance  with  the  sched- 
nle  given  below.  The  analysis  is  only  tentative  of 
course.  An  analysis  of  another  group  of  papers 
published  on  different  dates  would  show  results  dif- 
ferent from  these.  But  the  difference  in  results 
would  come  rather  in  minor  details  than  in  the  gen- 
eral outline. 

We  may  quite  safely  assume  that  four  billion  and 
a  half  copies  of  daily  and  weekly  papers  published 
within  twelve  months  in  this  country  are  devoted  to 
the  topics  listed  in  the  table  on  page  46,  somewhat  in 
the  proportion  indicated.  Reducing  the  contents  of 
these  newspapers,  or  the  words  in  them,  to  volumes 
of  the  size  of  "David  Harum,"  we  have  in  another 
column  a  statement  of  the  number  of  volumes  of 
"David  Harum"  size  that  appear  in  newspaper  form 
each  year  in  this  country,  on  the  several  subjects 
indicated  in  the  table. 

The  number  of  daily,  weekly  and  monthly  copies 
of  periodicals  published  in  the  United  States  every 
year  is  :  dailies,  2,865,466,000 ;  weeklies,  1,208,190,000; 
monthlies,  263,452,000 ;  total,  4,337,108,000  copies. 

My  figures  are  taken  from  a  reliable  newspaper 
directory.  Other  estimates,  based  on  returns  direct 
from  the  publishers  themselves,  are  nearly  twice  as 
large  as  mine. 

In  another  table  I  have  restated  the  situation, 
grouping  some  of  the  thirty-two  topics  of  the  first 
table,  reducing  thereby  the  number  of  classes  to  five. 
Again  putting  the  contents  of  the  newspapers  of  a 
year  into  volumes  of  "David  Harum"  size  we  have 

45 


LIBRARIES 


SPACE  DEVOTED  TO   VARIOUS   SUBJECTS 


Per 

Cent  of 

Space 

(Approx.) 

1.  Commercial  and  financial:   including   market 

and  nianufactui-ing-  reports,  real  estate,  etc.  11 

2.  Health  and  pleasure  resorts;  general  gossip; 

trivial  town  news 8 

3.  Advertisements:  dry  goods,  clothing,  depart- 

ment stores,  etc 8 

4.  Political:    domestic,    army    and    navy.    Con- 

gress,  Philippine  War,   etc 8 

5.  Sports:   athletics,   etc 7 

6.  Legal:  trials,  colonial  questions,  notices,  etc.  6 

7.  Criminal  4 

8.  Personal :   not  trivial 3  ^A 

9.  Advertisements:  personal,  marriages,  deaths, 

employment  wanted  3*4 

10.  Advertisements:  medical   3 

11.  Advertisements:     railroads,     shipping,     tele- 

phone, telegraph,  hotels,  etc 3 

12.  Advertisements :  wants 3 

13.  Advertisements:  real  estate,  lodgings,  resorts  3 

14.  Literature:   essays,   stories,   poetry,   book  re- 

views, drawing,  music  and  art 2i,^ 

15.  Social  science:  strikes,  unions,  reform  work, 

etc 21^ 

16.  Advertisements:  financial,  stocks,  etc 2i/^ 

17.  Religion:  churches  and  church  work 2% 

18.  Political:  foreign,  including  wars 2^^ 

19.  Railroads;   shipping  news;   trolley  lines,   etc.  2*4 

20.  Disasters    2 

21.  "Society"   2 

22.  Science    2 

23.  Political:  international,  Chinese  crisis,   Nica- 

ragua Canal,   etc li/^ 

24.  Advertisements:     theatre,    opera    and    other 

entertainments    1 

25.  Educational:  schools,  colleges 1 

26.  Advertisements:  food  and  mineral  waters...  % 

27.  Theatrical:   actual  stage  news % 

28.  Musical   i^ 

29.  Advertisements:  books    Va 

30.  Advertisements:  fine  arts,  schools,  etc \i 

31.  Historical  Vs 

32.  Advertisements:  liquors  Va 

Note — Twenty-eight  per  cent  or  566,000,000  volumes  is  adv 


Space  in 

Terms  of  a 

Book  the 

Size  of 

"David 

Harum" 

Copies 

270,600,000 

160,200,000 

159,200,000 

156,600,000 

132,000,000 

119,000,000 

86,200.000 

71,400,000 

69,600,000 
61,200,000 

60,000,000 
58,000,000 
56,400,000 

51,000,000 

49,400,000 
49,400.000 
47,600,000 
46,400,000 
45,000,000 
41,000,000 
41,000,000 
40,000,000 

30,200,000 

21,200,000 

18,800,000 

15,000.000 

13,400,000 

12,600,000 

9,000,000 

3,900,000 

3,600,000 

3,200,000 

ertising. 


46 


WHAT  AVE  READ 

another  estimate  of  the  number  of  volumes  of  each 
of  these  broader  classes  that  are  read  by  the  people 
of  the  United  States  every  twelve  months. 

SUMMARY    OF    OUTPUT    OF    PERIODICALS 

Copies  of 
"David  Harum" 

1.  Political  and  governmental   matters     352,200,000 

2.  Criminal,  sensational  and  trivial....     287,400,000 

3.  Intellectual,    scientific  and   religious     248,200,000 

4.  Personal  and  social 572,800,000 

5.  Business  ■ 539,400,000 

Total 2,000,000,000 

The  weekly  papers  I  have  not  included  in  this 
general  analysis.  They  produce  in  a  3' ear  1,208,190,000 
copies,  a  little  more  than  one-third  of  the  output  of 
the  dailies,  and  probably  somewhat  smaller  in  size 
on  the  average.  An  analysis  of  them  would  be  still 
more  difficult  than  has  been  the  analysis  of  the 
dailies,  for  the  reason  that  among  the  weeklies  are 
to  be  found  a  large  number  of  periodicals  which  are 
not  newspapers  proper,  ranging  in  quality  from  jour- 
nals like  the  Police  Gazette,  the  Nickel  libraries  and 
cheap  story  papers  to  the  Youth's  Companion,  the 
Outlook,  and  countless  trade  and  technical  journals. 
The  quality  of  the  literature  published  in  the  weeklies 
is  probably  on  the  whole  not  much  if  at  all  superior 
to  that  found  in  the  dailies.  Weekly  publications  of 
what  we  commonly  call  the  better  class,  would  bring 
up  the  average,  while  sporting  journals  and  cheap 
stor^'  papers  and  things  of  that  kind  would  tend  to 
bring  it  down  again  to  the  level  of  the  field  covered 
by  daily  publications. 

Monthlies  number  a  total  output  in  a  year  of 
285,000,000,  only  6  per  cent  of  the  grand  total.  Some 
of  them  are  very  widely  read.  The  number  of  readers 
of  each  monthly  is  probably  greater  than  the  number 

47 


LIBRARIES 

of  readers  of  the  weeklies  and  dailies,  but  in  spite  of 
this  fact,  when  one  considers  the  things  read  by 
the  people  of  this  country,  monthly  and  quarterly 
journals  may  be  almost  left  out  of  account. 

The  scope  of  the  influence  of  various  kinds  of 
periodical  publications  is  shown  in  the  following 
table,  which  shows  the  extent  to  which  the  various 
kinds  of  journals  are  read.  The  papers  are  classified 
accordins;  to  circulation : 


Daily 

Circulation 

Dailies 

Weeklies 

Monthlies 

Over  75,000 

1,635,425,000 

85.800,000 

172,800,000 

Over  40,000 

350,560,000 

70.720,000 

22,080,000 

Over  20,000 

350,560,000 

111,280,000 

22,080,000 

Over  17,500 

109,550,000 

38,220,000 

8,220,000 

Over  12,500 

156,400,000 

53,300,000 

10,500,000 

Over     7,500 

14,085,000 

68,250,000 

12,150,000 

Over     4,000 

179,036,000 

76,900,000 

10,800,000 

Over     2,000 

40,690,000 

312,600,000 

4,800,000 

All  under  2,000 

rated   at   600 

29,160,000 

391,120,000 

22,000 

2,865,466,000    1,208,190,000       263,452,000 

From  these  figures  it  is  difficult  to  make  generali- 
zations or  draw  conclusions.  This  is  the  newspaper 
age.  The  mere  physical  and  psychical  effects  of 
reading,  increased  as  it  has  been  so  tremendously  in 
the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  is  probably  materially 
affecting  us.  Just  how,  nobody  seems  to  know. 
This  is  something  for  the  physiologists  and  psycholo- 
gists to  tell  us  about.  The  effect  on  the  minds  of 
the  people  of  this  country  and  Europe  of  assimilating 
this  enormous  amount  of  reading  matter  each  year 
must  certainly  be  great.  A  hundred  years  from  now 
the  historian  may  be  able  to  point  to  the  last  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century  as  the  ])eriod  during  Avhieli 
were  brought  forth,  through  the  medium  of  the  daily 
papers,  the  causes  which  profoundly  affected  the 
history  of  the  twentieth  century. 

48 


WHAT  WE  EEAD 

Is  it  possible  to  learn  bj  experience  and  observa- 
tion bow  to  overcome  the  monster  of  print?  Some 
learn  this.  Those  who  survive  in  the  struggle  to-day 
must  learn  how  iiot  to  be  dominated  by  printed 
things.  Perhaps  only  by  experience  in  life  can  it  be 
learned  at  all,  but  education,  which  claims  to  be  a 
preparation  for  life  itself,  could  devote  itself  in  large 
measure  to  fitting  those  who  receive  it  to  struggle 
successfully  with  the  monster  of  the  printing  press. 

To  put  it  more  exactly,  the  cliildren  in  the  schools 
— could  they  not  have  simple,  practical  illustrations, 
largely  of  course  experiential,  in  the  use  of  the  news- 
paper and  other  periodicals?  They  are  taught  to 
read,  and  tliey  are  taught  much  beyond  tliis.  In  the 
best  schools  they  are  taught  a  good  deal  beyond  this. 
They  are  given  instruction  about  authors  and  books 
of  past  times,  authors  and  books  of  whom  the  major- 
ity will  never  hear  again.  Should  they  not  be  given 
a  few  hints  at  least  as  to  the  way  in  which  they  can 
best  make  use  of  the  printed  things  they  will  actually 
come  in  contact  with,  first  the  daily  paper',  next  a 
weekly  with  cheap  pictures,  next  a  serial  publication 
devoted  to  silly  stories?  If  education  is  preparation 
for  life  would  it  not  be  advisable  to  give  to  young 
people  a  little  specific  preparation  for  the  large  por- 
tion of  their  lives  which  will  be  spent  in  contact  with 
tlie  daily  printed  page? 


49 


LIBRARY  PROBLEMS 

Pedagogical  Seminary,  June,  1902 

Gabriel  Naude  had  charge  of  the  library  of  Car- 
dinal Mazarin  and  of  the  libraries  of  other  notable 
people  in  the  seventeenth  century.  When  he  was 
about  twenty-five  years  of  age,  in  1627,  he  published 
a  little  volume  which  he  called  "Advice  on  the  man- 
agement of  a  library.''  This  was  at  the  beginning 
of  his  career  as  a  book  lover  and  librarian.  Yet  even 
at  that  age  and  before  he  had  yet  enjoyed  the  experi- 
ence of  gathering  and  arranging  some  of  the  most 
notable  libraries  in  the  Europe  of  that  day,  he 
approached  his  subject  with  a  fullness  of  mind  and 
breadth  of  view  which  are  not  often  found  among 
librarians.  In  the  closing  chapter  of  his  little  book 
he  speaks  of  the  proper  purpose  of  a  library.  '  The 
acquisition,  classification  and  general  care  of  it  he 
has  duly  described  in  previous  chapters.  "All  these 
matters,"  he  says,  "having  been  settled,  there  remains 
to  the  completion  of  this  discussion  only  a  statement 
of  what  should  be  the  library's  chief  end  and  aim. 
To  suppose  that  after  all  the  care  and  expense  I  have 
heretofore  suggested  have  been  given  to  the  accumu- 
lation of  many  books  and  their  proper  installation, 
we  may,  as  it  were,  hide  all  their  lights  beneath  a 
bushel,  may  condemn  all  the  brave  spirits  they 
embody  to  eternal  silence  and  solitude — this  is  to  fail 
utterly  to  understand  the  purpose  of  a  library.  Of 
a  library  we  may  say,  as  Seneca  says  of  Nature,  that 
she  'desires  not  merely  to  be  looked  at,  but  also  to 
be  admired;  that  she  would  lose  all  the  fruits  of  her 
labor,  were  she  to  exhibit  her  handiwork,  so  vast, 
so  noble,  so  subtly  complex,  so  bright,  and  so  beautiful 

51 


LIBRAEIES 

ill  \vaYs  so  iiuuiifokl,  to  solitude  alone.'  In  vain 
would  one  foUoAV  the  instructions  I  have  set  forth 
and  incur  the  large  expense  I  have  recommended  in 
the  purchase  of  books  and  their  proper  establishing, 
if  he  have  not  in  mind  their  consecration  to  public 
use;  if  it  is  in  his  heart  ever  to  refuse  access  to 
them  to  the  humblest  who  may  have  need  of  them." 

These  sentiments  were  uttered  275  years  ago. 
They  have  not  obtained  very  wide  acceptance  yet; 
because  the  preservative  function  of  a  library,  for 
several  hundred  years  so  justly  prominent,  has  per- 
sisted like  an  old,  fixed  habit,  and  made  difficult 
the  development  of  other  functions  which  changed 
conditions  demand. 

All  people  are  becoming  readers.  The  newspaper, 
in  the  past  three  decades,  has  raised  the  number  of 
those  in  this  country  who  make  use  of  print  for 
recreation  and  information,  from  two  or  three  million 
to  perhaps  ten  million.  There  are  among  us  at  least 
thirty  million  more  persons  preparing  to  come  into 
the  ranks  of  readers.  And  every  day  the  newspaper 
gathers  more  and  prints  more  of  all  that  touches  life, 
and  sells  that  more  for  less  and  less,  and  encroaches 
on  the  domain  which  the  book  and  the  weekly, 
monthly,  and  quarterly  magazine  once  held  for  their 
own.  Books  cost  less  and  less  each  year  to  make; 
writers  increase  in  number  both  relatively  and  abso- 
lutely; and  books  of  all  kinds,  from  simple  restate- 
ments of  trivial  facts  to  careful  announcements  of  the 
results  of  prolonged  research,  from  silly  verse  to  mas- 
terpieces of  imaginative  writing,  rush  through  the 
press  in  an  endless  and  swelling  flood.  Formerly,  save 
for  oral  tradition,  only  in  rare  and  costly  books  were 
to  be  found  the  means  of  culture,  and  the  secrets  of 
tlie  arts,  trades  and  professions.     Now  the  classics 

52 


LIBRARY  PROBLEMS 

and  the  literature  of  information  are  to  be  had  almost 
for  the  asking.  Libraries  designed  to  serve  the  needs 
of  many  decades  to  come  prove  too  small  before  they 
are  fairly  occupied.  Books  overflow  the  shelves; 
readers  crowd  the  floors. 

In  the  great  city,  as  well  as  in  the  small  towns, 
donors,  trustees,  librarians  and  architects  seem  not 
to  face  these  facts  of  modern  life  in  the  field  of  paper, 
print  and  readers.  They  build  after  old  precedents. 
They  accumulate  books  as  did  our  fathers  when  the 
material,  the  paper,  print  and  binding,  of  the  book 
itself  was  rare  and  costly.  They  provide  for  the  few 
who  read  forty  years  ago  instead  of  for  the  multitudes 
who  read  today,  and  they  administer  as  if  library 
science  were  an  art  preservative  instead  of  an  art 
descriptive,  selective,  directive  and  distributive. 

Much  has  been  done,  to  be  sure,  to  meet  the  new 
demands  this  increase  of  books  and  papers  make  upon 
us.  Library  methods  have  changed.  We  need  go 
back  only  twenty-five  years  to  find  the  original,  nat- 
ural and  in  its  early  days  entirely  just  view  of  a 
library's  proper  character  and  method  in  general 
acceptance.  The  librarian's  art  was  then  an  art 
preservative.  Books  were  to  be  kept,  kept  jealously, 
and  used  carefully,  and  only  by  a  selected  few.  Li- 
brary buildings  were  storehouses.  The  space  in  them 
for  books  was  relatively  generous,  that  for  readers  or 
users  of  books  relatively  small.  Lofty  rooms  with 
encircling  galleries  satisfied  the  demand  for  show. 
The  questions  of  heating,  lighting,  ventilation  and 
shelving  were  secondary  and  unconsidered,  or  not 
well  considered.  The  coming  tide  of  books  and  the 
coming  hordes  of  readers  were  unforeseen,  and  all 
buildings  were  designed  to  invite  and  encourage  a 
growth  they  could  not  satisfy.     Many  a  city,  town 

53 


LIBRARIES 

and  college  in  those  days  built  for  a  decade  or  two 
only,  when  they  believed  they  were  building  for 
generations.  Tilings  are  better  today.  But  few  yet 
realize  the  full  extent  of  the  changes  time  has 
wrouglit  in  the  world  of  books,  and  very  few  library 
buildings  have  been  erected  in  full  realization  of 
what  the  changed  conditions  demand. 

It  is  impossible  to  draw  up  general  rules  as  to 
the  details  of  library  construction.  The  factors  of 
funds,  location,  adjoining  buildings  and  special  needs, 
all  must  be  given  weight  in  each  individual  case.  A 
few  general  principles  are,  however,  of  almost 
universal  application. 

Libraries  always  grow  faster  than  their  communi- 
ties suppose  the}'  will.  Probably  nine  out  of  ten  of 
all  the  library  buildings  put  up  in  this  country  have 
already  proved  to  be  too  small.  Books  will  increase 
in  number  more  rapidly  each  succeeding  year.  Popu- 
lar education  and  cheap  newspapers  are  rapidly  in- 
creasing the  number  of  readers  and  of  library  users 
in  every  community.  The  first  general  rule,  then  is, 
make  the  building  as  large  as  the  funds  permit. 
Defer  decoration  if  need  be;  but  get  abundant  floor 
space  by  all  moans,  and  provide  for  extensions  if 
possible. 

The  public  buildings  in  this  country  over  twenty- 
five  years  old  which  are  still  fit — in  location,  style, 
construction  and  arrangement — for  the  purposes  for 
which  they  were  intended  are  very  few.  Do  not,  then, 
look  forward  to  great  ])ermanence  for  your  library 
Iniilding,  and  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  make  it 
absolutely  fire-proof  at  the  cost  of  size  and  conveni- 
ence. Books  can  be  reasonably  Avell  insured.  Save 
in  a  few  large  collections  a  total  loss  is  not  a  vital 
thing.     Build  substantially;  but  do  not  imagine  your 

54 


LIBEAEY  PKOBLEMS 

structure  is  for  all  time,  or  even  for  a  hundred  years, 
when  twenty-five  will  probably  find  it  out  of  date, 
out  of  place,  and  a  burden. 

A  library  is  a  place  in  which  many  people  are  to 
read  every  day.     Give  them  all  the  light  3'ou  can. 

Library  methods  have  entirel}'  changed  in  the  past 
ten  years.  We  may  be  sure  they  will  further  change 
in  the  next  twenty-five.  What  the  changes  will  be,  no 
one  knows.  The  buildings  adapted  to  the  methods 
of  ten  years  ago  are  to-day  out  of  date.  They  are 
hindrances  to  development  and  to  good  work.  We 
may  be  sure  that  buildings  especially  adapted  to  the 
methods  of  to-day  will  prove  to  be  poorh'  adapted  to 
the  methods  of  1925,  and  the  closer  we  fit  them 
to  present  needs  by  permanent  construction  the  more 
out  of  date  they  will  prove  to  be  as  new  needs  arise. 
Therefore,  make  your  building  adaptable  to  new  con- 
ditions. Provide  all  the  well-lighted  floor  space  you 
can,  and  let  it  alone.  Avoid  permanent  partitions. 
Do  not  be  deluded  into  surrounding  each  spot  on 
which  a  certain  kind  of  work  or  reading  is  to  be  car- 
ried on,  with  a  wall  of  brick  or  stone.  Why  should 
one  who  reads  the  Nineteenth  Century  be  separated 
by  a  huge  light  and  air  excluding,  distance-increasing 
partition  from  one  who  consults  an  encyclopedia,  or 
examines  a  catalogue,  or  studies  engravings?  The 
need  of  partitions  to  keep  out  noise  from  other  parts 
of  the  library  is  much  less  than  most  suppose.  Time 
will  try  all  division  walls  inside  your  library,  and 
prove  most  of  them  Avrong.  Leave  them  out,  and 
get  better  air  and  light;  greater  ease  of  administra- 
tion at  less  cost;  greater  comfort  for  the  public; 
more  available  floor  space — two  rooms  each  twenty 
feet  square  are  not  nearly  as  large  in  actual  utility 
as   is  one   room   20x40    feet — and    an    elasticity,    a. 

55 


LIBRARIES 

responsiveness    to    futnre    needs,    which    the    next 
generation  will  thank  you  for. 

With  this  no-partition  rule  goes  the  rule  against 
fixtures.  Complete  your  interior.  Then  add  the 
fittings  and  eases  as  they  are  needed  and  move  them, 
when  occasion  arises,  as  time  goes  on.  Fixed  desks, 
fixed  rails,  fixed  bookcases,  save  perhaps  in  a  stack, 
are  obstacles  to  comfortal)le  administration.  No  de- 
livery desk  was  ever  built  right  the  first  time.  Tliere- 
fore,  build  it  so  it  can  easily  be  changed.  The  books 
outside  the  stack  will  increase  in  number;  so  will 
your  readers.  This  increase  will  compel  the  shifting 
of  cases  for  the  former  and  of  tables  for  the  hitter. 
Make  all  furniture  in  small  pieces  and  all  moval)le. 
Put  as  much  as  possible  of  the  floor  space  on  one 
level.  Stairs  are  bad  in  any  library.  The  snmller 
the  library  the  worse  they  are.  They  mean  addi- 
tional attendants;  they  add  to  the  daily  labor;  they 
are  not  grateful  to  the  public. 

The  essential  things,  then,  in  library  construction 
are  maximum  of  space,  on  the  fewest  possible  floors, 
good  light,  a  minimum  of  partitions,  and  no  fixtures. 
Many  libraries  have  been  built  in  recent  years;  prob- 
al)ly  not  a  dozen  among  them  conform  to  these  con- 
ditions. This  is,  in  part,  the  fault  of  librarians,  who 
have  not  realized  the  future  of  their  own  calling;  in 
part,  of  trustees,  who  have  valued  things  they  thought 
magnificent,  -'tasty,"  ''elegant,''  and  imposing  before 
the  needs  of  their  constituency;  in  part,  of  architects 
wlio  let  convention  and  precedent  rule  in  interior 
arrangement  as  well  as  in  exterior  design.  The  sins 
of  the  father  are  visited  on  the  children  in  such 
buildings  as  those  of  the  Boston  public  and  the  Co- 
lumbia college  libraries,  wliicli  by  their  very  cost  and 
prominence  strengthen  the  evil  determinations  of 
many  an  architect  and  l)oard. 

56 


LIBEARY  PROBLEMS 

The  old  librarian  \Yas  often  master  of  his  books. 
He  knew  them,  every  one.  Each  stood  for  years  in 
its  accustomed  place  and  was  in  the  librarian's  mind 
like  an  ancient  landmark.  But  the  incoming  tide 
increased :  the  old  librarian  passed  and  his  knowledge 
went  with  him.  Careful  lists  were  needed.  As  lists 
grew  they  became  complex.  Rules  of  cataloguing 
arose  and  flourished.  The  need  for  grouping  on  the 
shelves  books  of  like  nature  Avas  soon  apparent. 
Classification  became  a  necessity.  Its  complexity 
increased.  And  the  classing  of  books  and  the  listing 
of  books,  and  the  listing  of  parts  of  books  and  the 
printing  of  these  lists,  which  were  in  fact  indexes  to 
whole  libraries  of  books — seemed  imperative,  and 
libraries  exhausted  their  resources  in  printing  cata- 
logues which  were  out  of  date  before  their  proofs 
were  read,  and  projected  card  catalogues  which  time 
may  prove  to  be  bibliothecal  Frankensteins. 

Yet  the  development  of  this  inventory-and-index 
idea  in  library  management  was  natural  and  proper. 
It  has  been  of  great  assistance  in  bringing  libraries 
under  control.  We  look  forward,  however,  and  see 
that  we  are  not  yet  at  the  end  of  the  matter.  New 
difficulties  born  of  the  very  profusion  of  books,  prom- 
ise to  arise.  Its  many  books  and  its  expanding  cata- 
logues threaten  to  obscure  our  vision  of  the  library 
itself.  In  twenty  years,  libraries  of  one  or  two 
million  volumes  will  be  considered  as  only  in  their 
infancy.  AVithin  the  lifetime  of  some  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  profession,  libraries  of  a  few  hundred 
thousand  volumes  will  be  as  common  as  were  those 
of  a  few  tens  of  thousands  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago.  The  library  of  a  million  volumes  will  need  for 
its  indexing,  under  present  methods,  five  million 
cards. 

Without  going  into  details,  we  can  see  how  cum- 

57 


LIBKARIES 

brons  will  be  a  catalogue  of  this  size,  no  matter  how 
carefully  it  is  arranged.  Its  form  is  abhorrent  to 
man}'  practical  men  who  make  use  of  books.  The 
ignorant  cannot  use  it,  the  learned  do  not  need  it. 
It  is  a  tedious  and  irritating  task  to  finger  cards.  In 
a  large  catalogue  the  entry  of  the  latest  book,  and 
the  vast  majority  of  those  Avho  use  books  want  first 
of  all  the  last  book  issued  on  their  subject,  is  lost  in 
a  vast  desert  of  useless  references.  Men  of  moderate 
intelligence,  occasional  visitors  to  the  library,  are 
helpless  in  the  presence  of  the  catalogue  and  turn  in 
despair  to  the  attendant,  who  often  depends  himself 
more  on  lists  and  special  bibliographies  than  on  the 
catalogue.  The  student,  versed  in  books,  hunts  out 
his  own  authorities  and  asks  of  the  catalogue  little 
more  than  the  information  that  the  library  has  or 
has  not  certain  volumes.  He  perhaps  can  go  to  it 
for  a  few  of  the  first  steps  of  the  investigation  he  is 
about  to  set  out  upon;  but  having  taken  those  first 
few  steps,  he  wishes  to  go  direct  to  the  books  them- 
selves. In  fact,  few  men  who  wish  to  consult  books 
on  a  certain  topic  care  for  more  than  guidance  to 
the  books.  No  card  catalogue  can  give  them  the 
information  they  need.  They  wish  the  books  them- 
selves; the  footnotes  and  indexes  in  the  books  them- 
selves. They  go  from  point  to  point  in  their  own 
way,  each  consulting  his  own  particular  needs.  The 
catalogue  for  them  is  hardly  more  than  a  starting 
point.  It  is  not  much  more  than  a  means  of  laying 
hands  on  a  certain  book  when  once  they  have  learned 
that  that  certain  book  is  the  one  they  wish  to  see. 
The  specialist  finds  more  helpful  than  the  catalogue 
a  few  minutes  conversation  with  some  one  connected 
with  the  library  and  posted  on  the  literature  of  the 
subject  he  is  about  to  investigate.     Such  a  person 

58 


LIBRARY  PROBLEMS 

ill  a  general  way  outlines  the  range  of  the  library's 
resources,  and  puts  him  in  touch  with  the  subject  if 
he  is  not  so  already,  and  indicates  the  location  of  the 
books  he  may  wish  to  consult.  Each  year,  as  the 
output  of  books  grows  larger  and  as  they  become 
cheaper,  the  number  each  library  can  and  must  buy 
will  increase  and  the  annual  additions  to  the  cards 
in  the  catalogue  will  become  greater  in  number. 
This  will  add  to  the  expense.  If  the  Library  of 
Congress  succeeds  in  its  admirable  plan  of  printing 
correct  cards,  purchasable  at  a  small  price  by  all 
libraries,  this  will  reduce  the  original  cost  of  the 
catalogue;  but  it  will  induce  many  libraries  to  add 
rapidly  to  their  number  of  cards  and  so  will  add  to 
the  cost  of  their  storage  and  arrangement.  The 
labor  of  sorting  a  thousand  new  cards  into  their 
proper  places  among  a  million  others  is  immense. 
This  labor  increases  for  every  library  each  year  and 
will  become  for  many  small  libraries  a  burden  larger 
than  they  now  anticipate. 

Nor  is  this  all.  Not  only  is  the  catalogue  becom- 
ing an  alarmingly  expensive  creation;  not  only  is  it 
growing  more  cumbersome  to  the  user ;  not  only  does 
it  contain  each  year  a  greater  and  greater  amount  of 
chaff — its  cards  referring  to  the  dead  books — rela- 
tively to  the  few  grains  of  wheat— its  cards  referring 
to  the  live  books ;  but  also  it  becomes  as  it  grows  an 
institution  more  and  more  difficult  to  revise.  In 
most  cases  it  must  in  time  be  revised.  Librarians 
in  hundreds  of  towns  and  smaller  cities — and  I 
believe  in  most  large  cities  also — will  soon  find  their 
shelf-space  full.  They  will  keep  on  buying  books, 
more  in  number  each  year.  They  must  make  room 
for  them.  Tliey  will  pronounce  judgment  on  many 
of  the  older  volumes  and  say  that  for  their  library 

59 


LIBRARIES 

those  books  are  dead.  They  will  give  them  away,  sell 
them  or  burn  them.  But  the  dead  books  are  entered 
ill  the  catalogue,  on  the  shelf-list  and  in  the  accession 
books.  And  the  labor  of  removing  from  the  cata- 
logue and  its  allied  lists  all  traces  of  the  books  pro- 
nounced dead  and  sent  away  is  prodigious.  Yet  it 
must  be  carried  through.  I  am  not  attempting  to 
solve  tlie  problem  I  am  presenting.  I  venture  only 
to  sound  a  warning. 

President  Eliot,  of  Harvard,  says  it  is  time  for 
libraries  to  begin  to  discriminate  between  the  living 
and  the  dead  among  books.  He  asks  for  new  methods 
of  treatment.  It  is  well  that  one  who  speaks  with 
authority  says  what  many  have  been  saying  for 
several  years.  It  is  not  too  soon  to  attack  this 
problem. 

Add  to  President  Eliot's  appeal  for  a  change  from 
the  hoarding  process  to  the  method  of  elimination 
the  bold  statement  by  President  Harper  of  Chicago 
University  as  to  the  place  the  library  is  to  occupy 
in  the  educational  institutions  of  the  future — and  his 
prophecies  apply  with  equal  force  to  the  public 
library  and  its  special  community — and  you  have 
ample  justification  for  the  distinction  already  made 
in  this  paper  between  the  former  function  of 
libraries — the  preservation  of  books — and  its  latter 
day  functions,  of  evaluation,  selection,  direction  and 
distribution. 

President  Harper  says:  "The  library  and  the 
lal)oratory  have  already  practically  revolutionized 
the  methods  of  higher  education.  In  the  really  uuni- 
ern  institution,  the  chief  building  is  the  library.  .  .  . 
The  librarian  is  one  of  the  most  learned  miMnbers  of 
the  faculty;  in  many  instances,  certainly  the  most 
influentiak  .  .  .     The  library,  fifty  years  ago  almost 

GO 


LIBRARY  TROBLEMS 

unknown,  today  already  the  center  of  the  institution's 
intellectual  activity,  half  a  century  hence  ^Yith  its 
sister,  the  laboratory,  almost  equally  unknown  fifty 
years  ago,  will  have  absorbed  all  else,  and  will  have 
become  the  institution  itself." 

Public  as  well  as  university  libraries,  as  they 
develop  into  the  influential  institutions  which  Presi- 
dent Harper  says  they  are  to  become,  will  change 
much  from  what  they  now  are.  Just  what  are  the 
changes  they  will  undergo,  it  is  impossible  to  proph- 
esy. They  have  been  indicated,  we  may  reasonably 
suppose,  by  the  changes  they  have  undergone  in  the 
past  few  years.  Their  buildings,  as  already  suggested, 
will  become  simpler,  better  adapted  to  economical 
administration,  more  easily  modified  to  suit  new 
needs,  and  more  readily  enlarged  for  increasing  use. 

Cataloguing  methods  will  be  simplified  and  cheap- 
ened. Some  way  must  be  discovered  of  making  at 
least  an  author  index  which  can  be  more  easily  kept 
up  to  date,  more  easily  and  more  quickly  used,  and 
more  readily  changed  by  the  dropping  of  entries  of 
books  past  their  usefulness.  It  is  probable  that  we 
shall  be  able  to  return  to  printed  broadsides  for  this 
special  purpose,  though  the  card  catalogue  in  its 
present  form  may  not  go  out  of  use  for  the  index  of 
authors,  titles  and  subjects. 

Smaller  libraries  will  confine  themselves  to  keep- 
ing up  small  working  collections,  chiefly  of  the  more 
recent  books,  constantly  relieved  of  the  burden  of 
dead  books,  and  carefully  indexed.  Historical  ma- 
terial will  be  confined  in  them  to  the  best  books  on 
the  subject  at  large  and  to  a  very  small  portion  of 
the  local  field.  The  omninm  gatherum  historical 
method  now  advocated  for  the  libraries  of  small  com- 
munities and  practiced  by  many  of  them,  will  have 

61 


LIBRARIES 

to  be  abaudoned.  Material  will,  by  this  method,  soon 
accumulate  beyoud  all  possible  control,  and,  being 
uncontrolled,  will  be  of  no  use.  Historical  libraries 
will  have  to  struggle  with  this  problem  of  over-much 
material.  Somehow  the  selective  process  even  here 
must  be  put  in  operation.  The  libraries  of  a  few 
great  cities  can,  and  probably  will,  go  on  accumulat- 
ing at  large  for  some  years  to  come.  It  is  well  that 
they  should.  A  wise  winnowing  process  can  here  be 
discovered  only  by  much  practice  on  large  masses  of 
material.  But  before  long  they  too  will  find  that  a 
book  is  not  a  book  if  there  is  nothing  useful  in  it; 
and  that  it  is  better  to  have  the  best  well  in  hand, 
than  a  mixed  mass  of  live  and  dead,  unorganized, 
material. 

As  President  Eliot  has  said,  the  problem  of  hous- 
ing and  indexing  is  already  a  serious  one  at  Harvard. 
It  is  not  less  serious  in  other  large  libraries,  although 
the  fact  is  not  often  admitted. 

The  plan  suggested  at  Cambridge  and  Boston  is 
one  of  the  possible  solutions  of  this  problem  of  stor- 
age. This  is,  to  erect  in  some  place  outside  the  city, 
where  land  is  not  valuable,  an  enormous  warehouse, 
fireproof,  simple,  inexpensive,  capable  of  indefinite 
extension ;  and  to  consign  to  it  the  dead  volumes  from 
all  the  great  libraries  of  the  region.  A  difficulty  here 
arises  which  has  already  been  mentioned,  that  of  so 
treating  the  catalogues  of  each  library  contributing 
to  this  warehouse  that  they  will  sliow  that  the  books 
removed  are  no  longer  in  the  library  proper,  but  in 
the  warehouse.  This  difficulty  is  one  which,  under 
present  methods,  will  grow  greater  with  each  succeed- 
ing year,  as  the  catalogues  of  each  library  increase 
in  size  and  complexity.  Another  problem  is,  how  to 
arrange  the  books  in  the  warehouse  so  that  any  given 

02 


LIBRARY  PROBLEMS 

volume  can  be  found  after  it  lias  been  learned  from 
the  catalogues  in  any  of  the  contributing  libraries, 
that  it  is  actually  "in  storage.''  If  the  coming  flood 
is  as  great  as  it  promises  to  be,  and  if  ways  of  making, 
handling,  storing,  revising  and  consulting  card  or 
other  catalogues,  much  less  expensive  of  time,  space 
and  material  than  those  now  in  use  are  not  found,  it 
will  perhaps  be  necessary  to  cast  aside  all  records  of 
the  books  which  have  been  pronounced  dead  and 
relegated  to  the  storage  warehouse,  and  treat  those 
thus  stored  in  the  simplest  possible  manner — which 
is,  to  arrange  them  in  one  alphabetical  series  by 
authors.  This  method  would  discover  duplicates; 
could  be  carried  out  by  inexpensive  labor;  and  yet 
would  leave  the  books  accessible  to  the  occasional 
inquirer  with  little  loss  of  time.  The  libraries  proper, 
the  efficient  institutions  of  President  Eliot's  desire 
and  President  Harper's  pro^jhecy,  would  find  them- 
selves relieved  of  a  tremendous  burden  by  adopting 
this  selective  process.  They  could  soon  become  far 
more  helpful  to  the  ordinary  student  than  they  can 
hope  to  become  as  long  as  they  are  struggling  under 
the  weight  of  books  rarely  used  and  of  unwieldy 
catalogues. 

The  method  of  administration  of  the  active,  up  to 
date,  clean-cut  working  library  of  the  future  is  still 
somewhat  in  question. 

This  working  library  of  the  future,  so  far  as  we 
can  foretell  its  character,  is  in  a  building  which  is 
well-lighted  and  can  be  easily  readjusted,  rearranged 
and  extended  to  meet  new  conditions.  Space  for 
readers  as  well  as  books  is  ample.  Its  stack  or  store- 
room is  planned  to  hold  the  least  used  books.  It 
keeps  its  main  working  collection  together,  not  scat- 
tering it  in  branches  in  public  libraries,  or  in  depart- 

63 


LIBRARIES 

meiit  biiikliiiiis  in  niiiversitv  libraries.  Branch  or 
departmental  libraries  will  duplicate  or  supplement 
the  main  library,  not  divide  it.  It  is  a  workinsr 
library,  not  a  museum  of  anticpiities,  curios  or  art, 
and  it  does  not  invite  the  sight-seer.  It  is  kept  up 
to  date,  as  well  by  weeding  out  of  volumes  past  their 
usefulness  as  by  the  purchase  of  the  latest  publica- 
tions. The  most  used  books  are  most  easily  acces- 
sible and  most  fully  catalogued.  The  latest  reference 
lists  and  bibliographies  on  all  subjects  which  the 
collection  covers,  are  j^rovided.  Titles  for  purchase 
are  selected  with  great  care;  utility,  and  immediate 
utility,  being  considered  first,  rarity,  beauty  and  pros- 
pective value  last.  Rules  and  regulations  are  few 
and  flexible.  That  the  books  be  used  is  considered 
of  the  first  importance.  Museum  pieces  of  whatever 
kind  are  not  admitted  to  the  library  proper,  have  no 
place  in  it,  and  hence  give  no  occasion  for  close 
guardianship  of  the  shelves. 

Card  indexes  to  the  proceedings  of  societies,  to 
scientific  journals  and  other  publications  are  now 
being  made  and  published.  One  which  covers  the 
field  of  zoology,  published  in  Zurich,  Switzerland, 
already  contains  over  00,000  cards.  These  indexes 
are  exx)ensive.  To  their  first  cost  has  to  be  added 
the  cost  of  keeping  and  of  the  addition  of  new  titles 
as  they  are  received.  In  the  future  few  libraries  will 
find  it  possible  to  buy  and  keep  up  more  than  a  care- 
ful selection  of  such  lists,  only  those  adapted  to  their 
own  peculiar  needs.  Tlie  burden  they  will  become  in 
a  few  years  will  be  clearly  recognized.  Also,  the  ease 
with  whicli  the  knowledge  they  can  impart  can  be 
transmitted  from  (tne  library  to  another  will  be  more 
fully  appreciated.     In  this  matter,  as  in  book-buying 


64 


LIBRARY  PROBLEMS 

and  book-weeding,  cooperation  between  libraries  by 
inter-library  loans  will  make  it  easier  for  each  com- 
mnnity  to  see  the  advantages  of  specialization,  and  of 
small  collections  kept  well  in  hand. 

The  free  public  library  of  to-day  does  not  occupy 
the  field  of  book-lending  as  completely  as  it  supposed 
it  did,  even  a  few  months  ago.  The  Book-lovers' 
Library  has  demonstrated  that  many  people  in  every 
community  will  borrow  books  of  certain  classes,  even 
at  some  personal  expense,  if  the  opportunity  is  favor- 
able. The  free  public  library  evidently  has  not  been 
offering  the  favorable  opportunity.  It  is  very  doubt- 
ful if  it  ever  can,  or  should.  It  will,  in  the  future, 
concern  itself  less  than  ever  with  the  circulation  of 
light  fiction.  It  will  find  it  can  use  all  the  funds  it 
can  obtain  in  the  promotion  of  reading  of  a  more 
serious  character,  and  in  other  work  proper  to  it. 
It  Avill  reach  out  for  the  mechanic  and  the  artisan — 
it  has  never  yet  had  a  hold  on  them — and  will  occupy 
itself  more  and  more  with  the  work  of  helping  parents 
and  teachers  to  train  the  young  into  the  habit  of 
reading  good  books,  and  into  a  working  knowledge  of 
books  and  journals  of  the  informing  kind. 

By  cooperative  effort,  among  libraries,  as  illus- 
trated b3^  the  work  Mr.  George  lies  is  doing  and  has 
done,  most  books  as  soon  as  published,  will  be  evalu- 
ated at  the  hands  of  experts.  The  critical  and  exposi- 
tory notes  thus  obtained  will  be  made  generally  avail- 
able. Less  weight  will  be  given  to  the  completeness 
of  bibliographies  and  more  to  their  annotations,  and 
the  skill  they  show  in  selection.  Save  for  the  maker 
of  bibliographies,  who  has  completeness  for  his  only 
aim,  a  complete  unannotated  bibliography  is  of  very 
little  use. 


65 


LIBRARIES 

111  book  selectiiiji',  in  narroAviiiii  lii«  library's  field, 
ill  the  casting  ont  of  dead  stock,  all  with  the  help  of 
expert  advice,  the  librarian  must  be  arbitrary.  But 
in  the  use  of  the  books  by  the  public  in  a  i^ublic 
library,  by  the  students  in  a  college  library — here  he 
will  remove  all  barriers.  The  simplest  and  most 
flexible  rules,  based  on  the  facts  that  the  public  owns 
its  own  institutions,  and  that  most  men  are  honest 
and  considerate  of  one  another,  will  enable  him  to  see 
that  all  claims  are  treated  alike.  Suggestions,  criti- 
cisms, advice,  demands,  will  be  invited  from  all. 
Public  oflicers  are  public  servants,  and  public  insti- 
tutions are  supported  to  satisfy  the  public's  needs — 
these  good  old  maxims  will  be  kept  always  in  mind. 

Librarians  have  passed  through  the  repository 
stage,  when  they  did  little  more  than  collect  and  save ; 
the  identification  stage,  when  they  devoted  them- 
selves greatly  to  classifying,  ticketing  and  catalog- 
ing their  books;  the  memorial  stage— Avhich  we  are 
unhappily  still  blundering  through — when  they  sur- 
rendered themselves  to  the  task  of  erecting  Greek 
temples,  Italian  palaces  and  composite  tombs;  the 
distribution  stage,  wherein  they  find  themselves  out- 
stripped by  commercial  ventures  which  saw  that  the 
novel  had  become  as  much  desired  as  the  daily  paper ; 
and  they  are  just  entering  upon  the  critical,  evaluat- 
ing and  educating  stage.  They  are  just  beginning  to 
find  themselves,  as  President  Harper's  words  testify. 
In  this  present  stage  the}-  discover  that  they  are,  or 
may  become,  the  center  of  many  of  the  forces  in  their 
respective  communities  which  make  for  social  effi- 
ciency and  civic  improvement.  The  modern  puldic 
library  is  the  helpful  friend  of  scientific,  art,  and 
historical  societies;  of  the  educational  labor  organi- 


66 


LIBRARY  PROBLEMS 

zatioiis;  of  city  improvement  organizations;  of  teach- 
ers' clnbs  and  parents'  societies  and  women's  clnbs. 
At  the  library  shonld  be  the  books  and  jonrnals  to 
which  all  these  institutions  mnst  come  for  their  guid- 
ance or  material.  Here  shonld  be  rooms  snitable  for 
their  gatherings.  Here  shonld  be  a  spirit  hospitable 
to  them  all;  knowing  what  is  in  books,  bnt  keenly 
alive  also  to  all  that  is  best,  all  that  is  striving  for 
helpfnl  expression,  in  the  people  who  own  those  books 
and  hope  ninch  from  them. 


THE  PLACE  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  IN 
A  CITY'S  LIFE 

Address  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Trenton,  N.  J., 
Puhlic  Library,  June  9,  1902 

Cities  and  towns  are  now  for  the  first  time,  and 
chiefly  in  this  country,  erecting  altars  to  the  gods 
of  good  fellowship,  joy,  and  learning.  These  altars 
are  our  public  libraries.  We  had,  long  ago,  our 
buildings  of  city  and  state,  our  halls  of  legislation, 
our  courts  of  justice.  But  these  all  speak  more  or 
less  of  wrong-doing,  of  justice  and  injustice,  of 
repression.  Most  of  them  touch  closely  on  partisan- 
ship and  bitterness  of  feeling.  We  have  had,  since 
many  centuries,  in  all  our  cities,  the  many  meeting 
places  of  religious  sects— our  chapels,  churches  and 
cathedrals.  They  stand  for  much  that  is  good.  But 
they  have  not  brought  together  the  communities  in 
Avhich  they  are  placed.  A  church  is  not  always  the 
center  of  the  best  life  of  all  who  live  within  the 
shadow  of  its  spire. 

For  several  generations  we  have  been  building 
temples  to  the  gods  of  learning  and  good  citizenship 
— our  schools.  And  they  have  come  nearer  to  bring- 
ing together  for  the  highest  purpose  the  best  impulses 
of  all  of  us  than  have  any  other  institutions.  But 
they  are  not  yet,  as  we  hope  some  day  they  will  be, 
for  both  old  and  young.  Moreover,  they  speak  of  dis- 
cipline, of  master  and  pupil,  instead  only  of  pure  and 
simple  fellowship  in  studies. 

And  so  we  are,  for  the  first  time  in  all  history, 
building,  in  our  public  libraries,  temples  of  happi- 
ness and  wisdom  common  to  all.  No  other  institu- 
tion which  society  has  brought  forth  is  so  wide  in 

69 


LIBRARIES 

its  scope ;  so  universal  in  its  appeal ;  so  near  to  every 
one  of  us;  so  inviting  to  both  young  and  old;  so  tit  to 
teach,  without  arrogance,  the  ignorant  and,  without 
faltering,  the  wisest. 

A  public  library  can  be  the  center  of  the  activities 
in  a  city  that  make  for  social  etficiency.  It  can  do 
more  to  bind  the  people  of  a  city  into  one  civic  whole, 
and  to  develop  among  them  the  feeling  that  they 
are  citizens  of  no  mean  city,  than  any  other  institu- 
tion yet  established  or  than  we  as  yet  conceive. 

It  lends  many  novels.  Novels  are  destined  to 
play  a  large  part  in  our  life  in  the  next  few  decades. 
A  few  hundred  thousand  read  them  now;  in  a  few 
years  millions  will  read  them.  As  a  nation,  we  are 
expressing  ourselves  through  them;  in  them  we  are 
putting  our  history,  our  hopes,  our  ideals.  Many 
people,  confined  by  nature  and  circumstances  to  nar- 
row and  laborious  lives,  will  get  from  their  novels, 
here  distributed,  refreshment,  inspiration,  wider 
vieAVS,  an  admirable  discontent.  But  they  should  be 
chosen  with  care.  There  are  enough  of  the  best  to 
fill  all  needs. 

The  clergy  will  find  in  the  library  the  best  books 
in  theology,  l)iblical  criticism,  and  religion,  and  these 
books  Aviil  help  them  to  keep  from  their  thouglits  all 
narrowness  and  hardness  of  doctrine. 

Professional  men,  and  men  of  affairs,  will  not 
incline  to  use  their  libi-ary.  But  it  can  be  made  so 
inviting  that  not  a  few  will  find  it  impossible  to 
resist  the  temptation  to  ste])  aside  frcun  the  beaten 
track  of  the  day's  routine  and  the  morning  paper  into 
some  by-path  of  literature,  science,  or  art. 

Public  libraries  have  not  been  very  successful  in 
their  attempts  to  i)ersuade  workingmen,  mechanics, 
artisans,  to  give  over  the  sinful  habit  of  not  using 

70 


PLACE  OF  THE  PURTJC  LIBRARY 

their  books.  Perhaps  it  is  impossible  to  establish 
the  reading  habit  in  those  adnlts  who  get  physically 
wear}^  every  day.  l»erliaps  here  Ave  mnst  wait  for 
the  new  generation  to  come  on  with  the  habit  ready 
formed,  and  formed  largely  throngh  the  inllnence  of 
the  library.  IJnt  the  library  will  give  the  oppor- 
tunity. We  boast  of  onr  organizing  skill.  We  owe 
much,  very  much,  of  our  success  in  manufacture  and 
trade  to  our  skill  in  uniting  man  to  man,  and  men 
to  men,  in  great  organizations  working  to  one  com- 
mon end.  Much  of  this  skill  is  due  to  a  constant 
practice  which  goes  with  our  social  life.  We  are 
daily  taught  to  cooperate.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
lind  the  citizen,  no  matter  how  humble  his  station, 
who  does  not  belong  to  several  organized  bodies,  who 
does  not  get  from  those  bodies  practice  in  working  in 
harmony  with  others  to  effect  some  wished-for  end. 
Churches,  church  societies,  fraternal  orders,  social 
clubs,  labor  organizations — their  name  is  legion. 
They  are  one  of  our  best  schools  for  citizenship. 
They  help  us  to  pick  out  our  leaders;  they  teach  those 
leaders  the  art  of  management;  they  teach  the  rank 
and  file  the  profits  of  cooperation.  And  especially 
strong  is  this  form  of  social  life  among  the  skilled 
craftsmen.  And  so  a  library,  having  the  books  to 
which  it  wishes  to  attract  these  men,  and  having 
rooms  well  fitted  for  their  meetings,  will  encourage 
them  to  gather  in  these  rooms  for  all  the  purposes 
that  one  can  plainly  say  are  non-political,  are  not 
anti-social,  are  educational.  There  is  always  a  little 
barrier  between  the  brain-worker  and  the  hand- 
worker. It  should  be  slight.  It  should  not  lead  to 
misunderstandings.  If  the  hand-workers  discover 
that  the  library  is  their  building  and  that  in  it  they 
have  a  meeting  ground  common  with  them  to  all  their 

71 


LIBRARIES 

fellow-citizens,  this  will  do  much  to  promote  good 
understanding-  and  mutual  good  will.  Of  course  with 
this  use  of  a  library  go  such  lectures  and  exhibitions 
under  the  library's  management  as  experience  shows 
will  produce  good  results. 

I  was  for  many  years  in  that  land  where  women's 
clubs  and  women  voters  first  greatly  flourished — 
Colorado.  I  learned  there  what  woman  can  do  by 
organized  effort  for  the  broadening  of  her  own  life, 
for  the  betterment  of  her  own  city.  Many  public 
libraries  owe  their  existence  to  women's  efforts. 
They  are  every  library's  good  friends.  Its  books  and 
rooms  should,  then,  be  made  helpful  in  every  possible 
way  to  the  women  and  their  enterprises. 

Charitable  and  reform  and  educational  associ- 
ations of  all  kinds  flourish  amazingly  in  all  our  cities. 
They  are  of  value  to  those  who  take  part  in  them; 
they  grow  not  infrequently  into  institutions  of  great 
influence.  They  should  find  in  the  library  a  hearty 
welcome,  and  should  help  to  spread  and  strengthen 
the  influence  of  its  books. 

With  the  growth  of  local  pride  among  us,  organi- 
zations for  the  improvement  of  cities  will  increase  in 
number  and  grow  in  strength.  These  a  library  will 
especially  try  to  foster.  The  library  may  well  be  the 
focal  point  of  all  those  movements  which  make  for 
a  cleaner,  a  more  beautiful,  a  more  attractive  city, 
a  city  in  which  it  is  better  worth  one's  Avhile  to  pass 
one's  days.  With  books  and  photographs  and  lec- 
tures and  other  tools,  much  can  be  done  to  foster 
such  a  habit  of  self-glorification  as  leads  to  clearer 
vision  of  the  improvements  a  city  needs  and  a 
stronger  determination  to  secure  them. 

To  bring  thorough  work  into  better  esteem;  to 
make  a  little  more  dignified  the  plain,  honest  work 

72 


PLACE  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

of  our  hands;  to  increase  the  interest  in  his  day's 
labor  taken  by  the  artisan;  to  spread  a  knowledge 
and  appreciation  of  good  design;  these,  as  I  like  to 
understand  them,  are  the  objects  of  the  arts-and- 
crafts  movement,  now  so  widespread.  To  a  manu- 
facturing community  this  movement  will  be  of  espe- 
cial value.  It  will  lead  to  more  and  better  trade 
and  technical  schools,  to  more  practical  and  more 
effective  work  in  drawing  and  art  study  in  the  public 
schools.  It  is  part  of  that  wonderful  renaissance  of 
art  now  taking  place  in  this  country  which  is  so 
interesting  and  so  encouraging.  Of  such  a  movement 
the  library  will  be  one  of  the  natural  centers.  In  its 
beginnings,  especially,  its  resources  will  be  of  the 
greatest  help.  Out  of  the  union  of  those  interested 
in  this  field — architects,  artists,  artist-artisans, 
patrons  of  art — will  grow  in  time  the  museum  of  art 
and  handicraft  which  every  manufacturing  city 
greatly  needs. 

Science  and  history  will  come  in  for  attention. 
Societies  already  in  existence  will  find  in  the  library 
help  in  books  and  other  material,  rooms  for  tlieir 
gatherings,  quarters  for  storing  their  collections, 
until  that  happy  time  when  each  city  has,  as  it  should, 
a  museum  of  science  and  a  home  for  local  historical 
material,  both  carefully  adapted  to  work  with  young 
people  in  cooperation  with  the  schools. 

Have  I  gone  too  far  afield?  I  am  sure  not.  All 
these  things  which  we  look  forward  to  as  part  of  the 
work  which  a  library  with  a  beautiful  home  can  do, 
have  already  been  done,  or  are  in  the  process  of  doing 
somewhere  in  this  country  today.  I  am  not  offering 
you  an  impossible  ideal.  I  am  simply  outlining  what 
experience  has  already  proved  to  be  the  modern 
American  free  public  library's  proper  function. 

73 


LIBKAKIES 

I  have  purposel}'  left  to  the  last  the  pleasantest, 
most  helping  thing,  work  with  the  children.  Here 
as  elsewhere  in  this  new  and  wonderfnl  field  we  have 
much  to  learn  of  detail;  but  here  more  than  in  any 
other  direction  we  are  sure  of  our  results.  We  think 
we  are  a  nation  of  readers.  We  have  just  begun  to 
read.  1  believe  I  could  prove  that  the  practice  of 
using  the  printed  page,  even  of  the  dail}^  papers,  as 
a  means  of  refreshment,  information  or  training  has 
only  just  begun  to  take  root  among  us.  Our  schools 
and  our  cheap  and  soon  to  be  still  cheaper  journals 
will  hasten  the  spread  of  this  practice.  In  the  adult 
we  cannot  guide  it.  In  the  youth  we  can,  and  here 
is  where  the  library  will  show  its  power.  xVs  an  ally 
of  the  teachers  in  the  public  schools — the  most  useful 
of  all  the  friends  a  library  can  acquire — the  right 
books  can  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  children  at 
the  right  time.  The  ability  to  read  can  be  broadened 
into  the  habit  of  reading;  the  habit  of  reading  can 
be  guided  into  the  hal)it  of  reading  the  tilings  that 
make  for  wisdom  and  happiness.  The  library  should 
buy  for  this  purpose  many  books,  many  times  more 
books  than  it  thinks  it  will  need.  This  will  breed  here 
a  demand  for  good  books — which  it  will  try  the 
library's  resources  and  the  generosity  of  its  friends  to 
satisfy.  And  through  the  books,  again  with  the 
teachers'  aid,  can  be  reached  many  thousands  of 
parents,  to  whom  by  any  other  method  appeal  would 
l)e  made  in  vain.  And  through  books  and  teachers 
the  library  will  helj)  to  implant  in  the  minds  of  thou- 
sands of  cliildren  that  ju-ide  of  place,  that  love  of 
neatness,  that  delight  in  a  beautiful  city,  wliicli  will 
come  back  in  an(>ther  generation  in  an  irresistible 
demand  for  the  nobler  and  more  delectable  city  which 
all  hope  to  see. 

74 


THE  INCREASE  OF  THINGS  TO  READ 

Address  DcJivcrcd  before  the  FennsijJvau'ui  Lihrdrij 
Association,  Xocemhcr  W,  1902 

Institutions  are  results  before  tliey  are  causes; 
they  come  because  they  are  wanted,  not  because  they 
want  to  come;  tlie^'  are  formed  to  fill  certain  needs, 
and  the  needs  are  felt  before  the  institutions  are 
formed.  Libraries  help  to  civilize,  we  hope  and  be- 
lieve; but  people  have  a  certain  degree  of  civilization 
before  they  bring  forth  libraries.  Let  central  Africa 
tomorrow  acquire  traveling  libraries  thick  as  a  plague 
of  flies,  and  let  Carnegie  library  buildings  crown 
every  hill  in  eastern  Asia,  and  central  Africans  and 
eastern  Asians  will  still  be  as  now,  aliens  to  our 
thoughts  and  not  friends  of  our  firesides.  First  come 
l^eace  and  civil  cooperation;  tlien  the  institutions 
which  cooperation  begets. 

This  idea  of  universal  education,  from  which 
libraries  come,  is  quite  modern.  It  has  developed  as 
have  all  movements  which  tend  to  break  down  caste 
distinctions.  A  few  of  the  stronger  and  privileged 
class  conceived  of  popular  education  as  a  good  thing 
at  just  about  the  time  that  the  populace  itself  awoke 
to  find  it  wanted  education  and  was  strong  enough 
to  demand  it,  and  to  get  it.  So  education  grew  from 
a  privilege  to  a  right,  and  from  a  right  to  a  duty. 
Meanwhile,  we  passed  from  books  in  chains  to  free 
jKiblic  libraries. 

Now,  these  free  public  libraries,  the  natural  pro- 
ducts of  the  idea  of  universal  education  as  a  duty,  have 
like  tlie  schools  and  like  other  institutions,  their  own 
])eculiar  inheritance.  The  marks  of  the  days  wlien 
books  were  few  and  costly,  when  scholars  only  used 


LIBRARIES 

tliem  and  scholars  only  kept  them,  and  when  scholars 
were  all  men  of  mediaeval  learning,  these  marks  are 
still  plain  on  all  our  libraries.  It  would  be  inter- 
esting to  trace  some  of  our  peculiarities  of  admini- 
stration, peculiarities  which  mark  our  methods  off, 
too  much  perhaps,  from  the  ways  of  doing  things  in 
other  fields,  back  to  the  ecclesiastical,  monkish, 
university,  learned,  scholastic,  exclusive,  privileged 
days  of  the  modern  library's  history. 

I  wish  now  to  speak  of  only  one  factor  in  the 
library's  development,  a  factor  which  much  influenced 
library  methods  in  early  library  days— the  supply  of 
things  to  read. 

The  supply  of  things  to  read  has  increased  very 
remarkably  in  the  last  twenty  years.  Statistics  on 
the  subject  are  of  little  value  back  of  ISSO.  In  the 
census  for  that  year  and  in  those  for  1890  and  1900 
we  get  the  bases,  not  for  exact  comparisons,  but  for 
comparisons  sulflciently  accurate  for  our  illumina- 
tion. These  figures,  after  allowing  for  all  possible 
errors,  certainly  stir  the  imagination  and  encourage 
prophecy.  Those  I  shall  give  you  relate  only  to  this 
country !^  I  am  indebted  for  them  to  a  bulletin  of  the 
twelfth  census,  by  William  S.  Rossiter,  on  Printing 
and  Publishing.  I  commend  this  bulletin  to  your 
consideration.  And  let  me  commend  to  you  also,  to 
be  read  in  connection  with  it,  a  recent  address  of 
Prof.  Henry  E.  Armstrong  before  the  educational 
science  section  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science.  It  is  an  appeal  to  the  educa- 
tional world  to  face  more  frankly  the  actual  facts  of 
life,  and  to  endeavor  to  use  those  facts  more  freely  in 
the  exercise  of  the  scientific  imagination. 

Before  quoting  the  figures  of  the  increase  in  recent 
years,  in  the  last  two  decades,  of  the  supply  of  things 

76 


INCREASE  OF  THINGS  TO  READ 

to  read,  I  wish  to  call  your  atteutiou  to  a  few  of  the 
changes  and  discoveries  and  inventions  w^hich  have 
helped  to  make  this  increase  so  great. 

In  1870  a  poor  quality  of  printing  paper  cost  IG 
cents  a  pound.  Paper  of  better  quality  is  sold  to-day 
for  2  cents  a  pound.  A  curious  fact  illustrative  of 
modern  newspaper  methods  is  here  worth  noting. 
Some  newspapers  find  that  when  their  circulation 
passes  a  certain  point  the  quantity  of  paper  used 
each  day  is  so  great  that  it  is  difficult  to  supply  all 
the  copies  the  market  demands,  and  at  the  same  time 
keep  the  charges  for  advertising  down  to  a  rate  their 
customers  are  willing  or  able  to  pay.  A  certain  New 
York  paper  is  said  to  have  found  that  the  cost  per 
line  of  advertising  in  one  day's  issue,  simply  for  the 
paper  on  which  that  line  alone  is  printed,  is  21  cents. 
Under  present  conditions  a  paper  may  almost  have  a 
circulation  too  large  to  be  profitable. 

Up  to  1880  type  was  made  and  set  very  much  as 
it  had  been  from  its  first  invention  several  hundred 
years  before.  Now^  the  punches,  one  of  the  most  ex- 
pensive of  the  things  required  in  type-making,  are  cut 
almost  automatically  from  one  model  for  type  of  any 
size  of  a  given  style.  The  Wicks  type-casting  ma- 
chine is  reported  as  about  to  reduce  the  cost  of  type 
one-half.  Using  this  machine  the  London  Times  is 
set  in  new  type  every  day.  Certain  typesetting  ma- 
chines do  the  work  of  several  men.  The  Lanston 
monotype  casts  and  sets  and  justifies  lines — does  all 
that  a  hand  compositor  can  do — automatically  and 
with  astonishing  rapidity,  under  the  guidance  of  a 
strip  of  paper  properly  perforated  by  a  machine 
almost  as  easy  to  operate  as  a  typewriter.  The  Lino- 
type machine  casts  solid  bars  of  type  with  almost  any 
desired  changes  of  face. 

77 


LIBRARIES 

All  large  papers  and  most  books  are  stereotyped 
before  printing.  A  niaeliine  no^v  makes  the  stereo- 
type plates  in  a  fraction  of  a  minute  from  a  matrix 
formed  in  a  few  seconds.  Twenty  years  ago  the 
making  of  these  plates  was  a  slow  and  laborious  pro- 
cess. The  cylinder  perfecting  press  dates  back  fifty 
years.  Rut  improvements  in  presses  have  been  very 
marked  in  the  past  twenty.  Presses  are  now  obtain- 
able which  will  deliver  in  one  hour  10(1,000  news- 
papers complete  and  folded  and  printed  in  twelve 
colors. 

I  don't  need  to  speak  of  recent  progress  in  the 
art  of  newsgathering.  Your  daily  paper  tells  you  of  it. 
And  the  syndicating  method  of  these  days  whereby 
a  score  of  papers  have,  each  for  a  small  sum,  the 
work  of  the  best  experts  in  literature,  science,  art  and 
other  fields— this  is  a  marvel  of  yesterday,  yet  is 
familiar  to  us  all. 

Books  are  set  and  stereotyped  and  printed  as  are 
the  daily  papers,  and  many  of  them  almost  as  rapidly 
and  cheaply.  Machines  fold  them,  gather  them  and 
sew  them ;  machines  make  their  covers ;  machines  put 
cover  and  book  together.  A  neat  and  attractive  Itook 
bound  in  cloth  and  nicely  lettered  can  be  bought 
today,  at  retail,  for  5  cents. 

The  advertising  habit  has  grown.  The  income  of 
newspapers  in  this  country  from  advertising  alone  is 
estimated  at  |10(),(H)(),000  per  year.  This  is  more 
than  double  the  income  from  the  same  source  in  ISSO. 
The  income  from  advertising  is  what  makes  the  great 
newspaper  possible. 

While  these  things  have  been  thus  developing, 
making  things  to  read  much  easier  to  produce  and 
therefore  much  cheaper,  the  market  for  them  has 
steadily  grown.     The  horizon  of  every  man  is  wider 

78 


INCREASE  OF  TIlINCiS  TO  READ 

than  it  was  t^voiity  years  ago ;  lie  Avaiits  to  know  more 
about  tilings;  the  schools  turn  out  more  readers 
than  ever  before;  every  street  car  invites  to  practice 
in  reading;  every  vacant  lot  bears  on  its  awful  front 
a  child's  first  reader,  and  on  every  wayside  fence 
from  here  to  the  Pacific  is  a  better  reading  lesson 
than  our  great  grandsires  found  in  the  horn-books 
they  treasured  with  such  care. 

And  what  has  resulted  from  these  changes  in  the 
methods  of  producing  things  to  read?  In  this  coun- 
try libraries  of  1,000  volumes  and  over  have  increased 
in  number  from  about  2,500  to  about  5,000  in  the 
past  twenty  years.  The  number  of  volumes  in  these 
libraries  increased  in  the  same  period  from  about 
12,000,000  to  about  41,000,000.  The  new  books  pro- 
duced each  year  number  about  6,000.  Of  the  copies 
of  old  books  the  number  is  outside  the  realm  of  sur- 
mise. Since  1880  the  department  store  has  come  into 
the  field.  It  sells  books  by  the  cord,  not  by  the 
volume. 

Book  production  to-day  in  this  country  is  certainly 
many  times  Avliat  it  was  twenty  years  ago.  Librari- 
ans lend  a  good  many  books  in  a  year ;  for  a  modest 
guess  let  us  say  100,000,000.  But  that  forms  only  a 
drop  in  the  total  of  the  reading  done  in  this  country 
of  the  total  even  of  the  reading  of  books. 

Of  the  production  and  reading  of  periodicals  we 
must  speak  also  chiefly  in  general  terms,  though  we 
have  a  few  figures  which,  as  I  have  suggested,  illumi- 
nate our  generalities.  In  this  country  there  is 
printed  a  daily  newspaper  every  day  for  every  five 
persons,  about  20,000,000  copies  per  day.  Since  1890 
the  capital  invested  in  the  printing  and  publishing 
business  has  more  than  doubled.  In  ten  years  the 
number  of  copies  of  papers  and  journals  produced 

79 


LIBRARIES 

iu  a  year  has  doubled.  In  ten  years  the  number  of 
copies  of  papers  and  journals  jjroduced  in  a  year  has 
doubled  from  4,000,000,000  to  8,000,000,000.  In  fifty 
years  the  same  product  has  increased  twenty  fold. 
Mr.  Rossiter  tells  me  he  got  these  figures  from  returns 
sent  into  the  census  office  direct  from  the  publishers. 
I  worked  out  the  same  statistics  two  years  ago  from 
a  newspaper  directory.  My  totals  were  about  half  as 
large  as  those  of  the  twelfth  census.  The  truth  prob- 
abl}'  lies  somewhere  between  the  two.  Of  this  total 
issue  the  daily  papers  form  about  two-thirds.  Other 
kinds  of  publications  have  increased  much  more 
slowly  than  the  newspapers.  The  latter  are  gradu- 
ally taking  up  the  whole  field.  They  will  increase  in 
number.  They  have  not  yet  secured  as  readers,  so  I 
believe,  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  total  of  possible 
readers  in  this  country,  which  I  put  at  about 
40,000,000.  These  30,000,000  non-consumers  of  to-day 
will  come  into  the  reading  class  with  tremendous 
rapidit3\  Progress  in  such  matters,  as  George  lies 
so  aptly  says,  is  by  leai)s  and  bounds.  The  newspaper 
reader  is  a  possible  book  reader.  In  many  cases  he 
becomes  both  a  book  reader  and  a  book  buyer.  The 
book  market  will  increase  in  the  next  twenty  years 
as  it  never  has  before — even  in  the  astonishing  last 
two  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century.  With  a 
greater  market  there  will  come  a  relative  decrease  in 
the  price  per  volume.  The  prizes  of  authorship  will 
increase,  more  will  write,  and  if  our  entire  civiliza- 
tion is  not  moving  on  the  wrong  road,  books  will  be 
better  as  well  as  cheaper  and  greater  in  number. 

In  a  country  which  is  rushing  headlong  into  the 
printing,  publishing  and  reading  habits;  with  the 
production  of  things  to  read,  from  the  most  trivial 
journal  to  the  most  ponderous  volume  of  science  or 
history,  all  on  a  purely  commercial  basis,  what  is  the 

80 


INCREASE  OF  THINGS  TO  READ 

work  we  are  to  do?  We  were  once  keepers  of  the 
books;  now  we  are  keepers  of  a  few  of  the  many 
millions  of  books.  Books  were  once  the  greater  part 
of  all  that  there  was  to  read;  now  books  are  but  a 
trifling  portion  of  the  things  that  are  daily  read. 

AVe  mnst  learn  to  handle  books  with  less  labor 
and  expense.  Onr  incomes  cannot,  in  their  growth, 
keep  pace  with  the  growth  in  the  nnndjer  of  the  books 
we  must  take  care  of.  The  new  book  in  very  many 
cases  deprives  the  older  book  of  its  usefulness.  AA'e 
mnst  tind  some  way  of  dropping  from  shelves  and 
onr  lists  the  older  books  which  age  makes  useless.  A 
distinction  is  made  between  books  of  power  and  books 
of  knowledge.  The  conclusions  drawn  from  tliis 
classification  do  not  hold,  save  in  small  degree.  The 
distinction  is  even  very  misleading  in  some  of  the 
aspects  under  which  it  has  been  presented.  There 
are  great  old  books,  which  are  broad,  universal,  endur- 
ing, because  they  give  us  the  penetrating  view  of  life 
of  the  man  of  genius,  of  the  seer,  the  poet,  the  native- 
born  psychologist.  There  are  others  which  have 
gathered  greatness  with  the  lapse  of  time  because  a 
fashion  of  scholarship,  the  dictates  of  a  religion,  the 
literary  customs  of  a  people  have  led  to  their  reten- 
tion, and  have  woven  them  by  quotation,  paraphrase 
and  allusion  into  the  fabric  of  present  literature. 
But  these  books  are  not  many.  A  great  part  of  those 
which  are  often  counted  as  among  them  simply  shine 
by  a  little  borrowed  light.  And  the  best  of  the  books 
of  power — the  worship  wliich  comes  to  them  is  often 
born  of  a  fashion,  of  a  pseudo  culture  which  apes  the 
real  thing.  And  as  the  newspaper  comes  still  closer 
to  life,  takes  all  knowledge  for  its  province  still  more 
fully,  brings  us  in  closer  touch  each  day  with  other 
peoples  and  their  civilizations,  we  must — at  least  the 
coming  generation  must — loosen  a  little  our  hold  on 

81 


LIBRARIES 

the  historic,  mvthologic,  religious  and  literary  back- 
ground of  our  own  people  that  we  may  have  time  and 
strength  and  brain  to  spare  for  the  task  of  broaden- 
ing into  a  sympathetic  understanding  of  those  other 
peoples.  What  Darwin  lays  down  as  the  foundation 
of  social  order,  sympathy,  has,  for  indispensable  ele- 
ments, community  of  interest  and  likeness  in  knowl- 
edge. We  hope  for  the  federation  of  the  world.  In 
preparation  for  it  each  race  must  regard  less  exclu- 
sively its  own  past  and  acquaint  itself  more  freely 
and  more  willingly  with  the  religious  and  social 
legacies  of  other  races.  So  the  great  books  will  lose 
their  uniqueness,  because  other  great  books  of  other 
great  peoples  will  stand  beside  them  as  their  equals. 

Moreover,  it  is  not  from  books,  even  from  the 
great  books,  that  the  man  of  action  chiefly  gets  his 
insight  into  human  nature,  into  the  societ}'  in  which 
he  lives.  Life  is  before  him.  He  sees  it,  lives  it,  and 
interprets  it  for  himself.  The  thing  he  needs,  that 
he  may  first  exercise  his  imagination  on  the  work 
that  lies  before  him,  and  then  carry  out  that  which 
he  has  imagined,  is  the  latest  record  of  man's  control 
over  nature.  His  psychology  comes  from  birth  and 
daily  exercise.  His  facts,  these  must  be  handed  to 
him  hj  his  fellows.  It  is  science  that  he  must  have. 
The  books  of  chemistry,  of  engineering,  of  maclunery 
— these  are  for  him  the  books  of  power.  The  great 
books  of  the  humanities,  these  we  must  have;  but 
with  these,  almost  before  these,  we  must  liave  tlie 
books  of  knowledge. 

And  they  come,  and  go,  so  swiftly;  they  replace 
one  another  like  shadows  on  the  wall.  Those  which 
time  has  made  useless  gather  on  our  shelves;  old  age 
and  desuetude  creep  on  them  almost  in  a  day.  We 
must  drop  the  old  ones;  secure  the  new  ones;  make 
them  quickly  accessible ;  invite  all  to  their  use ;  gather 

82 


INCREASE  OF  THINGS  TO  READ 

young  workingmen  about  them;  make  ourselves  in 
this  field  of  action — this  field  which  covers  so  great  a 
part  of  the  whole  area  of  modern  life— quite  indis- 
pensable. 

To  come  to  simple  and  practicable  suggestions: 
we  librarians  should  collect  and  publish  in  various 
forms  annotated  lists  of  the  latest  books  as  they 
appear  on  scientific  and  industrial  subjects.  We  are 
several  thousand  strong.  We  can  cooperate  if  we 
will.  We  should  not  wait  for  men  outside  our  ranks 
again  to  set  us  the  example. 

Open  shelves  are  here  to  stay.  The  public  knows 
when  it  comes  into  its  own,  even  if  it  does  not  always 
know  its  own  before  it  inherits  it.  A  business  insti- 
tution can  place  its  books  on  open  cases  in  a  thousand 
drug  stores  and  count  its  losses  as  a  small  fraction 
of  what  it  gains  thereby.  Why  cannot  the  public 
library  bring  its  books  in  somewhat  similar  fashion 
into  the  heart  of  a  city,  and  count  the  gain  to  999 
citizens  as  more  than  compensating  for  their  loss 
from  the  meanness  of  the  thousandth. 

I  wonder  if  publicity  of  scandals  promotes  wick- 
edness? Vice  stalks  at  large  through  a  thousand 
thousand  pages  of  the  public  press  each  day.  I  won- 
der if  thereby  vice  groAVS  in  favor?  Probably  more 
crimes  are  read  of  every  day  in  America  by  more  peo- 
ple than  in  any  other  country  in  the  world.  I  wonder 
if  we  are  more  vicious  than  others?  I  doubt  it.  At 
any  rate  it  waits  to  be  proved.  Of  the  viceful  novel 
the  same  things  are  true.  We  read  them;  and  our 
social  fabric  still  hangs  together.  My  conclusion  is 
this,  that,  as  to  fiction  in  our  libraries  it  is  simple- 
mindedness  in  us  that  leads  us  to  haggle  and  quibble 
over  the  question  of  admitting  a  certain  novel  to  our 
shelves  when  the  papers  every  day  give  everybody  their 
full  of  stories  more  immoral  than  the  novel  and  when 

83 


LIBRARIES 

the  very  novel  in  question  has,  while  we  weigh  and 
consider,  already  been  read  by  more  thousands  than 
will  ever  find  it  on  our  shelves.  I  am  aware  that  as  a 
public  institution  we  must  lend  an  ear  to  Mrs.  Grundy 
— I  would  it  were  a  deaf  one !  But  with  fiction,  the 
question  is  not  so  much,  does  it  square  with  our 
notions  of  purity,  as  has  it  strength?  Is  it  alive? 
Is  it  true?  Does  it  say  something?  Is  it  from  the 
brain  of  a  prophet,  a  poet,  a  diviner  of  things?  The 
canting  twaddler,  his  are  the  books  we  can  dispense 
with. 

I  would  like  to  speak  of  the  opportunities  libraries 
have,  from  the  changed  conditions  of  printing  and  of 
picture  reproduction,  to  promote  the  best  kind  of  art 
education — the  art  education  which  means  increased 
art  appreciation,  increased  aesthetic  sensitiveness. 
But  that  is  too  long  a  story.  I  must,  however,  call 
your  attention,  though  very  brielly,  to  the  work  that 
lies  before  us  in  cooperation  Avith  publishers  and  book 
sellers.  Our  present  controversy  with  them  is  de- 
plorable. It  is  born  of  ignorance  of  the  mutual  aid 
we  might  give  one  another,  the  possibility  of  which 
seems  never  to  have  been  realized.  To  mention  only 
one  point:  above  all  other  persons  we  hold  the  key 
to  the  tastes  and  interests,  as  to  the  books  for  young 
people  in  this  country — the  coming  readers  and  buy- 
ers of  books.  This  through  our  intimate  and  friendly 
relations  with  schools  and  teachers.  In  one  way  and 
another  I  have  from  time  to  time  in  the  past  ten 
years  tried  to  tell  publishers  that  libraries  can  help 
them,  and  would  like  to  do  so,  and  I  have  tried  to 
tell  librarians  that  they  can  help  the  publishers,  and 
that  they  should.  The  ])ublishers  have  stood  by  the 
conservatism  of  the  dollars  in  sight;  we  have  stood  on 
a  stiijud  dignity,  and  we  are  apparently  farther  apart 
than  ever.     I  1»elieve  tliat  the  full  and  free  discussion 

84 


INCREASE  OF  THINGS  TO  READ 

of  our  relations,  which  is  coming,  will  result  in  oar 
arriving  at  an  understanding  of  one  another  and  at 
a  generous  and  helpful  cooperation. 

Another  point   in   our   management   of   libraries 
illuminated  by  a  plain  presentation  of  the  facts  of 
modern  print-production  is  our  relations  to  the  daily 
press.     The  press  must  and  does  give  us  the  "news." 
Within  this  little  Avord  are  now  embraced  all  aspects 
of  human  activity.     Our  function  it  will  be  to  help 
the  people  who  establish  us  to  select  from  all  printed 
presentments  of  the  life  of  today  those  best  adapted 
to  their  needs.     From  the  papers  we  can  rightly  ask, 
and,  save  for  slips  now  and  then,  due  to  human  frail- 
ties, to  weak  points  unavoidable  in  a  machine  so  great 
and  complex  as  a  modern  newspaper  offtce,  we  need 
never   ask   in   vain   for   sympathetic   aid.     We   have 
never  asked  enough.     A  body  of  workers  as  large  as 
ours,  one  not  lacking  in  persons  of  sense  and  discern- 
ment, engaged  heart  and  soul  in  a  good  and  helpful 
public  service,  a  body  like  this  owes  it  to  the  work 
it  is  trying  to  do  to  put  that  work  early,  late  and 
often   before  the  public.     I   have   long   advocated  a 
committee  of  the  American  Library  Association  on 
publicity.     It  should  have  taken   up   the   work   ten 
years  ago.     It  is  not  too  soon  to  begin.    Our  forerun- 
ners were  students,  consumers  of  the  midnight  oil. 
They  held  themselves  apart.     They  modestly  offered 
to  the  world,   now  and  again,   the  results  of  their 
labors.     Our   work   is   different;   Ave   make   libraries 
useful  to  the  scholars,  but  also  we  try  to  make  them 
active  agencies  in  popular  education.     For  this  latter 
work   especially   we   need   daily    the   publicity,    the 
kindly  criticism  and  the  encouragement  which   the 
newspapers  have  always  shoAvn  themselves  ready  to 
give. 

85 


MERE  WORDS 

Address  Delivered  before  the  New  Jersey  State 
Teachers'  Association,  Trenton,  December  29, 
1902 

We  sometimes  speak  scornfully  of  "mere  words." 
That  is  because  it  is  easier  to  make  sounds  tlian  it  is 
to  talk  sense.  Orators  tend  to  run  to  sound.  A 
pinch  of  plain  reason  makes  a  multitude  of  fine  words 
seem  like  substantial  mental  food.  The  younger  we 
are  the  more  ready  we  are  to  take  the  crackling  of 
a  few  thorns  for  a  good  hot  fire.  Where  deception  is 
easy  deceivers  multiply.  So  good  teachers  are  always 
on  the  watch  against  the  word  habit.  And  they 
wisely  speak  in  scorn,  sometimes,  of  "mere  words." 

But  now  and  then  the  word's  side  of  the  case  may 
properly  be  presented. 

Words  mark  us  off  from  other  animals.  When 
we  had  invented  language  we  had  climbed  on  to  the 
high  table-land  of  humanity.  We  are  the  only  rea- 
sonable race.  If  other  creatures  are  rational,  their 
reasoning  is  hardly  of  our  kind.  We  think  almost 
solely  in  words ;  and  can  we  think  of  a  thought  which 
—not  using  words— is  not  the  kind  of  thought  we 
use  when  we  think?  The  question  is  a  pleasant 
puzzle.  At  least  it  serves  my  turn,  for  I  am  trying 
to  bring  up  vividly  the  idea  that  words  underlie  our 
whole  life ;  are  the  signs  of  our  nobility  and  a  cause 
thereof ;  are  bonds  of  society,  the  records  of  our  pro- 
gress and  the  steps  on  which  we  rise.  And  they  are, 
some  of  them,  as  full  of  emotion  as  others  are  of 
meaning.  Association,  constant  use,  experience, 
story,  fable,  history,  all  have  made  them  able  to 
arouse  in  us  sentiments  grave  and  gay,  feelings  of 

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LIBRARIES 

o-rief,  pity,  joy,  reverence,  emotion,  wonder.  It  is  a 
curious  and  astounding  thing  this  power  to  touch  all 
the  stops  in  the  complex  organ  of  our  emotions  which 
a  "mere  word"  enjoys.  ^Vere  a  violinist  to  play  to 
you  here  and  now  a  bar  or  two  from  "Yankee  Doodle" 
or  "America"  or  "Home,  Sweet  Home"  or  "Dixie," 
you  would  be  moved,  each  and  every  one  of  you; 
vaguely  perhaps,  perhaps  very  definitely,  but  some- 
how the  mere  vibration  of  the  strings  of  the  violin 
would  thrill  through  every  one  of  us.  Tliis  is  won- 
derful when  soberly  thought  of.  Still  more  wonder- 
ful it  is  that  the  vibrations  I  may  set  in  motion  from 
my  throat,  fashioned  at  my  Avill  to  make  a  certain 
familiar  word,  can  likewise  move  you,  and  still  more 
definitely,  deeply,  and  permanently  than  the  far  more 
cunningly-fashioned  notes  of  the  violin.  I  will  try 
it.  Be  as  coldly  observant  and  critical  as  you  please 
— while  I  simply  name  to  you  a  few  names — it  will 
only  make  my  little  experiment  the  more  interesting: 

"Aladdin,  J>abylon,  the  Pyramids,  Homer,  Ulys- 
ses, the  rarthenon,  the  Tiber,  Julius  Caesar,  the 
Goths,  Charlemagne,  King  Alfred,  Richard  of  the 
Lion  Heart,  the  Crusades,  Napoleon,  A>':iterl(K>,  Lex- 
ington, Washington,  the  Nile,  Pharaoh,  ^Nloses,  Pales- 
tine, Herod,  the  sea  of  Galilee,  Nazareth,  the  Garden 
of  Gethsemane,  Calvary." 

As  I  rei)eated  those  words  you  got  from  them  a 
feeling  of  sympathy,  of  awe,  of  vast  distance,  of  long 
lapse  of  years,  of  exultation,  of  reverence,  of  tender- 
ness, and  with  these  feelings,  not  at  once  perhaps  as 
strong  and  clear  as  "Dixie"  could  arouse,  but  deeper, 
came  a  tumult  of  thoughts  of  every  form  and  nature. 
In,  or  with,  or  by  those  few  simple  sounds  you  trav- 
eled, from  the  Egyi)t  of  three  thousand  years  ago 
down  tiirough  Greece  and  Rome,  and  the  Miiblle  Ages, 

88 


MERE  WORDS 

and  modern  times  to  our  Revolution,  and  then  went 
back  for  a  moment  to  the  great  figure  of  all  history 
and  to  the  religion  in  which  yon  live.  Just  a  handfnl 
of  words.     Consider  their  power.     "Mere  words !" 

This  is  not  all  of  my  argument.  This  sensitive- 
ness to  words  does  not  come  by  nature.  One  may 
be  born  to  be  musical.  One  is  not  born  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  Julius  Caesar.  We  speak  of  such  things  as 
my  little  list  of  words  recalls  as  part  of  the  inheri- 
tance of  the  race.  They  are  not  so  save  in  a  re- 
stricted sense.  We  do  not  inherit  them.  We  learn 
them.  Many  times  as  the  story  of  Aladdin  has  l)een 
told,  it  must  be  told  again  for  each  and  every  child, 
as  new  generations  come  on  the  stage.  Consider  tlie 
observation,  reading,  and  study  that  each  of  you 
engaged  in  before  your  brains  were  so  attuned  that 
those  simple  sounds  I  made  aroused  in  them  sym- 
pathetic vibrations  of  thought  and  feeling.  Was  it 
worth  your  while?  Do  3^ou  feel  that,  being  thus 
attuned,  you  have  a  better  claim  to  rank  as  women  of 
intelligence? 

We  all  seek  pleasure.  To  make  to-morrow  not  less 
full  of  joy  than  to-day,  and  to  keep  from  it  some  of 
to-day's  pains  and  sorrows;  this  sums  up  our  aims.  I 
am  not  forgetting  that  oue  of  to-morrow's  anticipated 
pleasures  may  be  the  making  others  a  little  happier 
than  we  did  to-day.  I  am  not  now  going  into  the 
field  of  ethics.  I  am  trying  to  bring  out  in  a  little 
different  light  the  old  picture  of  the  delights  of  a 
many-sided  interest.  The  oyster  may  find  content  in 
mud  and  high  water,  the  cow  in  her  cud  and  the  shade 
of  a  tree.  We  of  the  great  race  of  human-kind  have 
long  thought  it  better  worth  our  while  to  count  time 
by  interests,  images,  thoughts,  emotions,  than  by  vaca- 
tions and  holidays.     We  like  to  live.     We  think  living 

89 


LIBRAKIES 

is  worth  while.  And  Ave  put  all  we  can  into  the 
field  of  our  own  intellect  and  emotions,  that  life  may 
thereby  be  long,  however  short  and  few  its  days. 

Going  on  with  the  argument  for  a  moment:  far 
more  effective  in  playing  on  our  emotions  and  broad- 
ening our  horizon  than  single  words,  are  words  in 
combination.  Here  the  skill  of  the  artist  comes  in, 
and  here,  too,  we  get  in  greater  strength  the  elements 
of  memory,  habit,  association,  and  suggestion.  This 
is  a  commonplace,  the  power  of  language;  our  de- 
pendence on  it;  the  strong  and  many-stranded  and 
multi-colored  warp  it  makes  for  the  wonderful  tapes- 
try of  the  life  of  man,  of  which  our  daily  conduct  is 
the  woof. 

It  is  a  commonplace,  but  one  that  we  find  more 
marvelous,  more  admirable,  fresher  in  its  newness 
with  each  day's  progress  in  our  lifelong  education. 

Let  me  point  my  moral  witli  a  few  simple  phrases 
which  your  own  manner  of  up-bringing  have  made  fit 
to  move  you : 

''In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the 
earth. 

"And  the  earth  was  without  form,  and  void;  and 
darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the' deep;  and  the 
Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  waters.  And  God 
said.  Let  there  be  light :  and  there  was  light. 

"Then  the  Lord  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind, 
and  said: 

"Who  is  this  that  darkeneth   counsel  by  words, 

witliout  knowledge? 

"Gird  up  now  thy  loins  like  a  man;  for  I  will 
demand  of  thee  and  answer  thou  me. 

"Where  Avast  thou  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  earth?  declare,  if  thou  hast  understanding. 

90 


MERE  WORDS 

"Who  liatli  laid  tlie  measures  thereof,  if  thou 
knowest:  or  who  hath  stretched  the  line  upon  it? 

"Whereupon  are  the  foundations  thereof  fast- 
ened? or  who  laid  the  corner  thereof; 

"When  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all 
the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy' 


r9 


"Canst  thou  bind  the  sweet  influence  of  Pleiades, 
or  loose  the  bands  of  Orion? 

"Canst  thou  bring  forth  Mazzaroth  in  his  season ; 
or  canst  thou  guide  Arcturus  with  his  sons? 

"Knowest  thou  the  ordinances  of  heaven?     Canst 

thou  set  the  dominion  thereof  in  the  earth? 

******* 

"The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd ;  I  shall  not  want. 

"He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures :  he 
leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters. 

"He  restoreth  my  soul :  he  leadeth  me  in  the  paths 
of  righteousness  for  his  name's  sake. 

"Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the 

shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil :  for  thou  art  with 

me ;  thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me.'' 

******* 

Of  the  power  of  these  phrases  to  move  us  I  need 
not  speak.  We  read  them,  we  hear  them— and  they 
conquer  us. 

We  have  come  now  to  reading,  and  I  am  nearer 
the  point  I  wish  to  impress  upon  you.  I  have  re- 
minded you  that  you  live  in  words;  that  through 
them  your  life  is  compact  of  meaning  and  full  of 
delights.  I  have  needed  but  to  hint  that  only  by 
long  study,  by  constant  practice  in  them,  by  varied 
experience  with  thousands  of  them  in  many  thou- 
sands of  relations,  have  words  come  to  bring  to  you 
a  full  burden  of  suggestion,  a  good  measure  of  joy. 

91 


LIBRARIES 

The  coiichisiou  is  plain.  To  live  ii  full  life  we  must 
will  a  full  appreciation  of  all  that  words  convey,  we 
must  understand  their  simplest  message;  also,  we 
must  feel  their  deeper  significance,  as  when  a  master 
hand  plays  upon  them  and  presents  to  us — as  does 
Emerson,  for  example,  in  his  "Concord  Bridge" — a 
world  of  human  nature  and  human  life  in  a  few 
short  lines. 

This  is  no  question  of  A,  B,  C.  This  knowledge 
of  words  does  not  come  at  the  end  of  the  Fourth 
Reader.  This  is  a  matter  of  many  men  of  talents  as 
set  forth  in  their  books.  To  know  life,  to  feel  life, 
to  know  our  fellows,  to  live,  in  a  deep  sense  of  that 
word,  we  must  have  met  the  kings  among  men  in 
the  words  in  which  they  have  set  themselves  before 
us.  The  old  things  that  belong  to  our  race,  the  gods, 
the  heroes,  the  scenes,  the  deeds,  the  fancies  of  our 
fathers'  fathers,  all  these  we  must  have  taken  up 
into  ourselves  before  life  can  have  for  us  that  fullness 
we  desire.     In  a  word,  we  must  read. 

We  have  come  now  to  the  relations  of  libraries 
and  schools.  The  libraries  are  established  that  they 
may  gather  together  the  best  of  the  fruits  of  the  tree 
-of  human  speech,  spread  them  before  men  in  all 
liberality  and  invite  all  to  enjoy  them.  The  schools 
are  in  part  established  that  they  may  tell  the  young 
how  to  enjoy  this  feast.  They  do  this.  How  much 
more  they  do  for  civility,  honesty,  and  other  simple 
and  fundamental  virtues  in  those  first  six  years  of 
school  I  am  not  here  to  tell  you.  They  teach  the 
young  to  read.  They  put  them  in  touch  with  words 
and  phrases;  they  point  out  to  them  the  delectable 
mountains  of  human  thought  and  action  as  set  forth 
in  "mere  words,"  and  then  they  let  them  go.  It  is 
to  be  lamented  that  they  go  so  soon.  At  twelve,  at 
thirteen,  at  fourteen  at  the  most  these  young  men 

92 


MERE  WORDS 

and  women  in  your  care,  whose  lives  could  be  so 
broadened,  sweetened,  mellowed,  Immanized  by  a  few 
years'  daily  contact  with  the  wisest,  noblest,  'wittiest 
of  our  kind  as  their  own  words  portray  them — at  this 
early  age,  when  reading  has  hardly  begun,  they  leave 
you,  and  they  leave  almost  all  of  the  best  reading  at 
the  same  time.  If,  now— and  I  told  you  my  point  is 
an  old,  familiar  one,  of  which,  none  the  less,  I  hope 
you  will  never  tire— if  now,  you  can  bring  these 
young  citizens  of  yours  into  sympathy  with  the  books 
the  libraries  would  persuade  tliem  to  read;  if  you 
make  ''mere  Avords"  inviting  to  them;  if  you  c-an 
impress  upon  them  the  reading  habit;  then  the 
libraries  can  supplement  your  good  work ;  will  rejoice 
in  empty  shelves ;  Avill  feel  that  they  are  not  in  vain ; 
and  the  coming  generations  will  delight,  one  and  all, 
in  that  which  good  books  can  give;  will  speak  more 
plainly;  will  think  more  clearly;  will  be  less  often 
led  astray  by  the  "mere  words"  of  false  prophets 
of  every  kind;  will  see  that  all  men  are  of  the  one 
country  of  humanity ;  and  will,  to  sum  it  all,  be  better 
citizens  of  a  good  state. 

To  get  children  into  the  reading  habit  you  need 
right  at  your  elbow  some  of  the  good  l)ooks  tlie 
libraries  contain.  You  need  this  one  to  help  you  in 
your  work;  that  one  to  broaden,  for  the  pupils,  the 
text  book's  limited  view;  another  to  tell  them  more 
of  the  great  man  or  the  notable  event  at  which  the 
lesson  only  hints.  You  need  them  to  help  you  to  find 
the  one  field  of  knowledge  in  which  that  boy,  a  seem- 
ing monument  of  indifference — and  you  all  have  such 
in  your  classes — may  find  an  interest;  and  always 
you  need  them  of  many  kinds  to  promote  practice  in 
reading,  to  encourage  the  reading  habit,  to  send  home 
with  the  pupils  to  their  firesides. 

Tlie  day  will  come  when  every  schoolroom  in  the 

93 


LIBRARIES 

land  will  be  a  branch  of  its  nearest  library.  All  pres- 
ent tendencies  in  library  work  point  that  way.  That 
is  the  relation  of  library  and  school  I  have  worked 
towards  for  a  good  many  years.  Children  mnst  learn 
to  read.  They  mnst  learn  to  read  readily,  and  to 
read  understandingly.  For  this  they  need  practice. 
They  mnst  form  the  habit  of  reading;  and  the  habit 
of  reading  good  things.  And  all  this  they  must  do 
before  they  leave  your  care  at  thirteen  or  fourteen 
years  of  age.  The  supplementary  reader  has  done 
much  in  this  direction.  How  much  only  the  older 
among  you  can  realize.  The  libraries,  with  a  branch 
in  every  schoolroom,  will  do  more.  What  can  yon 
do  to  help  them? 

First,  if  you  have  a  iniblic  library  in  your  town 
make  yourself  familiar  with  it.  Learn  how  to  use 
it;  how  to  get  books  from  it;  learn  to  use  its  books 
of  reference,  what  its  resources  are  in  the  lines  you 
are  teaching,  and  discover  all  the  things  it  is  willing 
and  able  to  do  for  you  in  the  way  of  books.  Will  jt 
lend  you  an  armful?  Will  it  buy  the  books  you  ask 
for,  if  not  already  on  its  shelves?  Will  it  welcome 
your  pupils  and  lend  them  books?  Will  it  receive 
courteously  a  roomful  of  them  if  they  come  for  some 
reasonable  purpose?  Learn  those  things.  You  will 
find  the  learning  a  pleasure. 

Next,  test  your  own  knowledge  of  the  best  books 
for  the  young.  If  you  have  not  read  them  already, 
if  evil  fortune  denied  to  your  childhood  the  fearsome 
delight  of  discovering,  with  Crusoe,  a  strange  foot- 
print on  the  sandy  shore;  if  you  never  saw  Giant 
Despair  overthrown,  or  the  Sleeping  Beauty  wake, 
or  the  portcullis  graze  Marmion's  plume,  it  is  still 
not  too  late.  You  sinned,  or  were  sinned  against,  or 
both.     But  the  gateway  to  the  realm  of  childhood's 

94 


MERE  WORDS 

fancies  is  never  closed.  Get  Scudder's  "Children's 
Book"  and  read  it  through. 

Read  also  the  good  books  about  children  by  grown 
up  people  for  grown  up  people.  Try  Barrie's  "Little 
White  Bird,"  and  see  if  birth  and  education  have 
made  you  fit  to  enjoy  a  master  of  Englisli,  a  man  of 
tenderest  sympathies,  a  prophet  of  the  land  of 
children. 

All  this,  you  may  tell  me  you  have  done.  This 
seems  to  you  an  old  story.  Your  supplementary 
readers  have  brought  you  and  your  pupils  into  close 
touch  with  these  things.     Let  us  hope  this  is  so. 

But  I  believe  you  will  find  there  is  something  yet 
to  do  in  reading  in  which  the  library  can  be  of  help. 
Reading  comes  by  practice.  The  practice  which  a 
pupil  gets  during  school  hours  does  not  make  him  a 
quick  and  skillful  reader.  There  is  not  enough  of  it. 
If  you  encourage  the  reading  habit  and  lead  that 
habit,  as  you  easily  can,  along  good  lines,  your  pupils 
will  gain  much,  simply  in  knowledge  of  words,  in 
ability  to  get  the  meaning  out  of  print,  even  though 
w'e  say  nothing  of  the  help  their  reading  will  give 
them  in  other  ways. 

I  have  lectured  you  enough.  I  am  afraid  I  may 
alarm  you  by  my  preaching ;  may  make  books  seem  a 
burden  and  public  libraries  things  to  be  avoided.  That 
would  be  a  grievous  mistake.  Libraries  are  pleasant 
places.  Their  shelves  do  not  groan  with  the  wisdom 
that  is  on  them.  They  delight  in  their  burdens. 
Their  books  are  like  your  own  companions,  grave  or 
gay,  as  nature  made  them.  And  one  may  believe  that 
the  great  men,  our  fellows,  who  made  the  best  of 
them,  rejoice  mightily  when  any  words  of  theirs  add 
to  the  happiness  of  any  one  of  us. 

Libraries  are  founded  to  add  to  the  joy  of  your 
lives  and  to  lighten  your  daily  work. 

95 


FICTION-KEADEES  AND   LIBRARIES 

Outlook,  June  27,  1003 

Some  observers  of  the  book  market  believe  the  day 
of  the  booming  of  the  novel  is  nearly  over.  They 
think  that  the  time  when  a  new  story  can  be  puffed 
and  advertised  into  tremendous  popularity  is  past. 
This  opinion  has  little  basis  in  fact.  Novels  have  been 
increasingly  with  us  for  a  round  hundred  years.  For 
several  thousand  years  men  have  taken  pleasure  in 
prose  fiction.  Like  the  ruler,  the  priest,  the  trader, 
and  the  artist,  the  story-teller  has  been  with  us  from 
camp-fires  to  cities  and  from  huts  to  i^alaces.  We 
cannot  shake  him  off,  and  would  not  if  we  could.  He 
has  made  us  known  to  ourselves.  At  his  best  he  has 
interpreted  life  for  us,  broadened  us  and  mellowed 
us;  at  his  poorest  he  has  diverted  us  and  made  us 
forget  the  pettiness  of  our  work  and  spirit.  When 
his  tales  found  the  opportunity  of  print,  and  mul- 
tiplied themselves  a  thousand  times  in  an  hour,  his 
fascination  did  not  increase,  but  his  circle  of  listeners 
widened.     It  is  widening  still. 

Consider  the  present  situation  and  its  signs  of  the 
future.  There  are  to-day  in  this  country  probably 
twice  as  many  readers  of  newspapers  as  there  were 
ten  years  ago.  Many  of  those  who  read  before  now 
read  more.  But  those  who  read  ten  years  ago  could 
not,  if  they  read  all  day  and  all  night,  consume  the 
thousands  of  millions  of  papers  and  journals  our 
presses  now  give  us  each  year.  The  ranks  of  the 
readers  get  new  recruits  every  day.  A  few  come  up 
into  the  reading  class  through  high  schools  and  col- 
leges ;  but  only  the  smallest  fraction  through  the  lat- 
ter, and  only  a  pitifully  small  percentage  through  the 

97 

7 


LlIiKAKIES 

former.  The  most  tome  up  through  A,  1>,  ab,  street 
signs,  posters,  nickel  stories,  and  the  daily  paper 
itself. 

Not  all  of  us  are  readers  yet.  There  is  much 
popular  error  on  this  subject.  Few  adults  in  America 
are  illiterates;  but  not  all  who  know  how  to  read 
take  advantage  of  their  knowledge.  The  majority  of 
all  the  possible  readers  in  this  countrj'  do  not,  ])r()])- 
erly  speaking,  read  at  all.  I  mean  this  literally.  I 
do  not  mean  that  they  do  not  clearly  understand  what 
they  read,  but  that  they  do  not  use  print,  save  very 
rarely,  for  any  purpose  whatsoever.  But  out  of  this 
majority  there  are  passing  every  year  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  into  the  reading  class.  That  this 
change  has  been  taking  place  rapidly  in  the  past  ten 
years  the  growth  of  newspaper  production  and  of  an 
accompanying  newspaper  consumption  in  that  jx^riod 
is  abundant  evidence.  That  the  transformation  is 
not  complete,  that  many  millions  of  literates  have  yet 
to  graduate  into  the  class  of  actual  readers,  could  be 
shown  by  statistics  of  present  newspaper  consump- 
tion and  of  the  possible  readers  in  the  country,  set 
forth  in  connection  with  a  study  of  the  areas  in  which 
the  present  output  of  reading  is  consumed.  Every 
month  and  every  year  a  new  army  of  users  of  ]>rint 
marches  into  the  field  out  of  the  country  of  the  non- 
reading.  This  army  is  recruited  partly  from  the 
additions  to  our  population,  but  chiefly,  as  I  have 
said,  from  tliose  who  could  read  before  and  did  not. 
These  incoming  hordes  of  devourers  of  books  are 
nearly  all  of  the  class  that  gets  its  fundamentals  only 
from  the  public  schools,  its  practice  from  wayside 
fences  and  daily  papers.  They  want  the  facts  of  life. 
They  get  them,  disjointed  and  disconnected,  from  the 
newspapers.     They  want  also  the  story ;  the  romnnce ; 

98 


FICTION-READERS    AND    LIBRARIES 

tlie  coiitiimoiis,  c-oiiiiected  narrative,  reflecting  tlieir 
own  life,  bnt  toiiclied  witli  more  emotion  than  they 
are  (jnite  conscions  of,  and  painting  their  ideals  in 
bright,  unmistakable  colors  with  broad,  strong  con- 
trasts. In  a  word,  they  w^ant  stories.  At  first  they 
read  chiefly  authors  whose  names  never  appear  in  our 
literary  journals.  They  read  them  more  than  any 
save  careful  observers  ever  realize.  Gradually,  out 
of  the  nmny  millions,  a  few  millions  come  into  the 
field  which  we  complacently  s])eak  of  as  "current 
literature."  And  these  few  millions  are  they  who 
make  it  sure  that  novels,  as  they  appear  in  this  field 
of  current  literature,  will  continue  to  sell  in  huge 
editions,  and  will  continue  to  be  as  readily  subject  to 
booms  by  skillful  advertising  as  the  latest  soap  or  the 
newest  health  food.  The  sum  of  it  all  is,  the  people, 
as  always,  want  stories. 

And"^  stories  are  probably  good  for  them.  The 
novel  today  seems  to  express  the  present  man  more 
fully  than  any  other  form  of  literature.  It  is  tlie 
most  common  form  of  art.  It  can  touch  all  subjects, 
express  all  feelings,  teach  all  doctrines.  Unless  all 
signs  fail,  it  is  sure  to  widen  its  field  still  further,  to 
become  still  more  widely  read,  to  teach  us  more 
readily,  to  set  fortli  our  character,  history,  and  aims 
more  comprehensively  still. 

As  a  librarian  the  subject  of  novels  interests  me 
keenly.  The  librarian  is  a  public  servant,  appointed 
primarily  not  as  a  censor  but  as  a  distributer  of 
books.  He  is  employed  to  supply,  but  within  certain 
limits,  the  books  the  people  ask  for.  What  are  the 
limits?  The  people  wish  novels ;  novels  are  probably 
helpful  to  them— which  novels  shall  he  give  them? 

Financial  considerations  compel  a  selection.  No 
library  can  buy  all.     Help  in  finding  an  approximate 

99 


LIBRAEIES 

aiiSAver  to  this  important  (iiiestioii  can  be  got  by  learn- 
ing which  authors,  by  the  libraries'  own  showing,  are 
chiefly  in  demand  to-day. 

From  thirty-fonr  typical  libraries  in  this  country 
— libraries  ranging  in  size  from  those  of  New  Eng- 
land country  towns  to  those  of  cities  like  St.  Louis 
and  Cleveland — I  obtained  lists  of  the  names  of  all 
the  authors  of  fiction  for  adults  represented  by  the 
novels  lent  on  three  separate  days ;  also  figures  show- 
ing the  total  number  of  books  of  each  author  lent 
on"  the  three  days.  These  names  and  figures  I  have 
tabulated,  and  I  give  some  of  the  more  important 
results  below. 

In  reading  the  names  and  figures  several  things 
should  be  taken  note  of,  if  we  would  avoid  an  entire 
misunderstanding  of  them.  In  the  first  place,  this 
list  shows  the  preference,  not  of  book-buyers,  but  of 
free  public  library  users.  Of  course  borrowers  at 
public  libraries  are  also  buyers  of  books,  but  this  list 
represents  their  preferences  as  borrowers.  General 
observation  permits  us  to  conclude  that  it  represents 
fairly  well  also  the  preferences  of  the  borrowers,  and 
others,  as  book-buyers.  The  "best-selling"  novels  of  a 
civen  week  are  usuallv  the  most  often-asked-for  novels 
at  the  public  libraries.  This  list,  however,  fails  to 
follow  the  best-selling  list  more  closely  than  it  does 
because  not  all  libraries  buy  all  the  best-selling  novels, 
and  because  the  borrower  at  the  library  usually  takes 
some  novel,  even  if  lie  cannot  get  the  novel  of  his 
choice;  and  because  this  list,  being  a  list  of  authors, 
not  of  books,  is  affected  greatly  by  the  fact  that  some 
of  the  authors  in  it  are  represented  in  most  libraries 
by  many  different  titles.  Crawford,  for  example, 
stands  first,  partly  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  he  is 
almost  always  on  the  shelves.     He  is  taken  many 

100 


FICTION-READERS    AND    LIBRARIES 

times  as  a  last  resort.  He  is  fairly  popular ;  and  then 
there  are  so  many  of  him ! 

Then  we  should  remember  that  this  list  repre- 
sents in  a  measure  the  preference  for  books  of  a 
certain  general  class,  rather  than  a  preference  for 
specific  authors.  Mary  Johnston  and  Winston 
Churchill,  for  example,  stand  near  the  head ;  but  they 
are  there  because  their  books  are  of  the  type  now 
popular — historic,  dramatic,  simple,  and  superficial, 
rather  than  deep  and  elemental.  Were  they  to  pub- 
lish no  more  books,  their  names  would  drop  out  of 
sight  on  another  list  of  this  kind  made  up  a  year 
from  now ;  while"  Dumas  and  Dickens,  men  of  more 
individuality,  appealing  to  more  permanent  tastes, 
would  occupy  about  the  same  positions  they  do  here. 

Again,  this  is  a  list  of  writers,  not  of  books.  Were 
it  a  list  of  books,  we  may  be  sure  the  names  would 
be  very  differently  arranged.  Mr.  Cru'nden,  of  the 
St.  Louis  Library,  has  shown,  by  careful  study  of 
the  issue  of  the  more  popular  of  the  novels  on  his 
shelves,  that  "Les  Miserables,"  "Vanity  Fair,"  "The 
Three  Guardsmen,''  and  other  books,  put  by  common 
consent  among  the  great  books  of  the  world,  are  those 
most  often  read  by  library  borrowers ;  that  they  main- 
tain their  places  in  the  front  rank,  in  spite  of  the 
seemingly  greater  popularity  of  the  novels  of  the 
hour. 

I  have  alluded  to  the  fact  that  Crawford  and 
other  authors  of  like  fecundity,  as  King  and  Roe, 
owe  their  prominence  in  part  to  the  fact  that  they 
have  written  so  many  books.  They  are  assisted  in 
gaining  their  eminence — I  am  not  now  attempting  to 
say  whether  that  eminence  reflects  credit  on  the  work 
the  public  libraries  are  doing  or  not — by  the  practice 
which  is  common  in  libraries  of  buying  all  the  works 

101 


LIBRARIES 

of  an  author  as  tliev  appear  once  he  has  gained  the 
public's  ear.  It  is  quite  customary,  for  example, 
having  met  the  public  demand  with  a  dozen  copies  of 
the  first  success  of  Jenkins,  to  buy  a  dozen  of  Jenk- 
ins's later  efforts  as  they  appear,  regardless  of  the 
question  of  their  merit.  And  while  they  are  doing 
this,  librarians  neglect,  as  inquiries  I  have  made  have 
shown,  to  supply  the  constant  demand  for  the  older 
novels  on  whicli  time  has  set  the  seal  of  approval.  Of 
a  list  of  one  hundred  of  the  best  novels,  compiled  by 
any  competent  judge,  most  librarians  would  find  on 
their  shelves  in  the  busy  season  hardly  more  than 
half,  in  good  presentable  condition.  This  manner  of 
novel-buying  of  course  works  to  the  disadvantage  of 
the  standards,  and  helps  to  bring  into  greater  use  the 
authors  we  find  first  on  my  list.  But  here  another 
fact  should  be  borne  in  mind — that,  of  popular  novels 
of  the  hour  no  library  buys  enough  copies  to  supply 
the  demand.  As  it  is  the  actual  demand  we  are  try- 
ing to  measure,  our  figures  fail  us  in  that  they  show 
the  demand  as  modified  by  an  insufdcient  supply.  If 
all  the  libraries  contributing  to  this  report  were  to 
purchase  the  latest  popular  novel  up  to  the  limit  of 
the  inquiries  made  for  it,  a  list  like  this  would  change 
as  to  the  authors  which  stand  near  its  head  almost 
from  day  to  day.  Pro1)ably  this  ever-])resent  limit 
of  supply  gives  us  in  these  returns  a  better  index  to 
the  character  of  the  average  reading  called  for  than 
would  like  returns  from  libraries  wliidi  supplied  all 
calls  for  the  latest  craze  in  fiction. 

To  make  the  significance  of  this  list  and  its  ac- 
companying figures  ])('rfectly  plain,  I  should  say 
again  that  in  thirty-four  reiM'esentative  libraries  in 
this  country  there  were  lent  on  three  days  in  tlie  cur- 
rent year  a  total  of  19,144  novels.     These  novels  were 

102 


FICTION-READERS    AND    LIBRARIES 

by  about  1,200  authors.  Of  the  total  number  of 
novels — in  round  numbers,  20,000 — 078  were  by 
F.  Marion  Crawford,  535  by  Rosa  N.  Carey,  486  by 
Alexandre  Dumas.  Only  those  authors,  seventy- 
seven  in  all,  are  here  given  whose  books  were  lent  to 
the  number  of  more  than  seventy. 

Novelists  pleasing  to  the  ladies  are  in  the  lead. 
Carey,  Douglas,  Amelia  Barr,  and  Burnham  are  uni- 
versal favorites  with  the  women  whose  literary  life 
is  not  unduly  strenuous,  who  like  a  story  of  true  love 
dealing  Avith  a  manner  of  life  not  conspicuously  dif- 
fering from  their  own.  These  leaders  in  popularity, 
like  almost  all  on  the  list,  are  proper,  conventional, 
and  clean,  and  if  the  common  opinion  about  novels 
and  novel-reading  is  correct,  they  maj^  be  said  to  be, 
with  few  exceptions,  wholesome. 

The  writers  of  fiction  whom  time  has  tried  and 
experience  has  approved  of  are  not  near  the  front. 
Of  Dickens,  Scott,  George  Eliot,  Thackeray,  and 
Hawthorne,  772  novels  were  read  out  of  the  total  of 
20,000,  or  less  than  4  per  cent. ;  while  Carey,  Douglas, 
Barr,  Burnham,  and  Captain  King  found  favor  in 
the  eyes  of  2,087  borrowers,  or  nearlv  11  per  cent 
of  all. 

These  figures  probably  represent  fairly  well  the 
popular  taste;  that  is,  they  represent  the  taste  of 
that  small  portion  of  the  community  wliich  keeps  in 
a  literary  way  up  to  the  level,  in  general  journalism, 
of  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal,  and  in  current  litera- 
ture of  The  Bookman.  These  readers  include  most 
of  the  readers  of  such  books  as  come  rightly  or  by  a 
kind  courtesy  into  the  field  of  "literature."  Of  all 
the  readers  in  tlie  country  they  form,  as  I  intimated 
earlier  in  this  paper,  oidy  a  small  part.  But  they 
include  most  of  the  managers  and  directors  of  affairs. 

103 


LIBRARIES 


They  are  the  substantial,  socially  efficient  people  on 
whom  we  rely.  And  this  table  here  is  a  bit  of  evi- 
dence as  to  the  wholesonieness  of  their  tastes. 

Of  course,  if  libraries  were  not  all  censors  of  read- 
ing in  good  degree,  if  they  did  not  choose  to  keep  the 
most  frothy  and  the  undeniably  filthy  from  their 
shelves,  this  would  be  a  different  showing.  But  with 
shelves  thus  unguarded  there  would  come  to  them 
much  more  freely  other  elements  of  the  community, 
and  our  list  would  no  longer  be  so  closely  indicative 
of  the  tastes  of  our  friends  and  neighbors.  It  would 
speak  of  tastes  Avhich  we  know  exist,  but  find  it  pos- 
sible to  ignore. 

List  of  the  names  of  authors  of  fiction  for  adults  more 
than  seventy  of  ivhose  works  were  borrowed  in 
three  days  at  thirty-four  representative  free  pub- 
lic libraries  in  the  country,  tcith  the  number  of 
copies  borroKcd  in  each  case : 

Rank.  Author  Vols.        Rank.  Author  Vols. 


1  Crawford 

678 

17 

Crockett 

256 

2  Carey 

535 

18 

Hector  (Mrs. 

Alex- 

3  Dumas 

486 

ander) 

253 

4  Douglas 

396 

19 

Ford 

235 

5  Barr,  Amelia 

301 

20 

Caine 

226 

0  Burn  ham 

390 

21 

Dickens 

221 

7  Doyle 

389 

22 

Wilkins 

219 

8  King 

375 

23 

Mitchell 

212 

0  Hope 

336 

24 

Howells 

194 

10  Barker 

329 

2.-> 

Corel  li 

184 

11   Stockton 

328 

26 

I>ulwer 

180 

12  Roe 

323 

27 

Kipling 

179 

13  Johnston 

303 

28 

Davis,  R. 

H. 

173 

14  Churchill 

302 

29 

Besant 

172 

15  Holmes,  M.  J. 

299 

30 

Green,  A. 

K. 

169 

IG  Burnett 

261 

31 

Merriman 

165 

104 


FICTION-READERS    AND    LIBRARIES 


Rank.                  Author  Vols. 

32  Pool  165 

33  Black  164 

34  Scott  162 

35  Baclieller  162 

36  Duchess,  The  159 

37  Collins  158 

38  Eliot  118 

39  Cooper  116 

40  Lyall,  Edna  144 

41  Harte  140 

42  Marlitt  138 

43  Allen,  J.  L.  136 

44  Thackeray  136 

45  Wilson,  A.  E.  135 

46  Barrie  134 

47  Harlancl  132 

48  Thompson  131 

49  Ward,  Mrs.  127 

50  Cable  124 

51  Stevenson  122 

52  Reade  118 

53  Haogard  118 

54  Weyman  118 


Rank.                  Author  Vols. 

55  Chambers  115 

56  Page  113 

57  Catherwood  113 

58  Craik  112 

59  Hawthorne  105 

00  Wood,  Mrs.  104 

01  Pemberton  103 

02  Yonge  101 

63  Rnssell  100 

64  Balzac  97 

65  Braddon  95 

66  Harrison,  Mrs.         95 

67  Castle  93 

68  Winter,  J.  S.  93 

69  Tarkington  92 

70  Hardy  88 

71  Brady  87 

72  Blackmore  85 

73  Major  84 

74  Zangwill  80 

75  Kirk  79 

76  Mark  Twain  77 

77  Rnnkle  71 


105 


WHAT  THE  PEOPLE  READ 

Outlook,  December  J,  1903 

Things  to  read  and  readers  to  enjoy  tliem  increase 
in  ways  we  scarcely  note,  and  wdth  results  none  can 
estimate.  If  man  is  better  for  knowing  more,  then 
no  generation  has  matched  onr  own  in  excellence.  To 
be  informed  is  not  the  same  as  to  be  wise;  but  cer- 
tainly it  is  a  step  away  from  ignorance. 

Ever^^  roadside  fence  is  now  a  primer  for  the 
passer-by,  every  trolley-car  a  first  reader  to  the 
traveler,  and  every  hoarding  a  treatise  on  zoology, 
manufactures,  and  social  problems.  To-day,  most 
read  a  little,  if  onW  the  signs  and  posters;  some  read 
newspapers — probably  ten  to  twenty  millions  of  the 
forty  millions  who  could  read  them  if  they  would.  A 
few  read  novels;  if  the  nu)st  popular  novel  finds  only 
a  million  l)uyers  in  a  country  where  forty  millions 
could  read  it  if  they  would,  who  can  say  that  novel- 
readers  are  more  than  a  few?  A  very  few,  possibW 
two  or  three  millions,  read  standard  literature  and 
serious  contributions  to  thought  and  knowledge. 
Surely,  the  procession  of  readers  grows  larger  every 
year,  relatively  as  well  as  absolutely.  The  change  in 
the  character  of  what  it  reads,  of  this  much  can  be 
said,  little  can  be  proved.  The  penny-dreadful  and 
the  Beadle  of  delightful  memory  led  the  way  to  the 
nickel  lilu'ary  and  the  copious  chronicles  of  the  little 
things  of  home.  Alouzo  and  Melissa  have  their  suc- 
cessors on  every  news-stand,  and  "Scottish  Chiefs'' 
still  give  us  blissful  thrills,  with  no  change  of  scene 
or  costume  and  with  slight  deference  to  the  latest 
fashion  in  dialogue.  The  best  poetry  seems  to  follow 
old  models,  and,  as  ever,  there  is  little  of  the  best, 

107 


LIBRARIES 

and  that  little,  little  read.  Gibbon  wrote  good  history 
long  ago;  Darwin  i>ut  forth  tlie  great  book  of  science 
before  most  of  us  were  born;  and  we  get  good  his- 
tories and  good  science  still.  But  now,  as  then,  their 
readers  are  few. 

In  the  last  ten  years  young  people  have  come  to 
form  a  large  proportion  of  library  borrowers,  taking 
now  nearly  a  third  of  all  books  lent.  Like  their 
elders,  the  children  are  fond  of  story-books,  and  select 
them  seventy-four  times  out  of  a  hundred.  Adults 
read  seventy  novels  to  thirty  other  books,  showing 
an  apparent  increase  in  the  popularity  of  the  "other 
books''  of  about  40  per  cent  in  ten  years. 

Some  complain  that  our  natural  history  runs  now 
to  sentiment,  and  that  the  sentiment  is  only  a  little 
less  false  than  the  natural  history.  Glory  be  to  the 
sentimentalist  none  the  less.  The  librarian  now 
enjoys  with  the  teacher  the  sight  of  countless  thou- 
sands of  children  eager  to  learn  of  the  joys  and  trials 
of  those  other  children  of  the  wild.  Thus  sympathy 
comes  and  interest  with  it,  and  the  habits  of  kind- 
ness and  gentleness  follow  after.  Every  public  library 
in  the  land  is  to-day  a  whole  Kindness-to-Animals 
Society  in  itself,  through  the  books  of  nature  stories 
on  its  shelves. 

The  geography  of  the  schools  is  a  far  broader 
subject  than  it  formerly  was.  The  teacher  now  sup- 
plements the  text  book  in  a  hundred  ways.  She  calls 
on  her  public  library  for  all  that  can  throw  light  on 
the  country  under  review,  and  travels  written  to 
attract  the  young  are  her  especial  delight.  Yet  our 
figures  show  no  increase  in  travel  reading.  This 
awaits  explanation. 

Where  borrowers  took  one  hundred  books  on  social 
science  ten  years  ago  tlu^v  now  take  one  hundred  and 

108 


WHAT  THE  TEOPLE  EEAD 

ninety.  This  is  not  due  to  a  greater  interest  in  parti- 
san politics,  which  in  libraries  goes  chiefly  Avith 
history  and  biography.  The  newspaper's  seem  to  give 
the  people  a  surfeit  of  party  platforms,  issues,  and 
candidatorial  platitudes. 

Of  history  and  biography  the  use  among  adults 
seems  not  to  increase ;  but  children  call  for  them,  and 
have  raised  the  total  lendings  in  ten  years  by  70  and 
24  per  cent  respectively.  This  is  encouraging  to  the 
librarian,  even  though  he  knows  he  must  chiefly  thank 
his  helpmeet  the  teacher  for  the  change.  From  the 
historical  story  which  the  writer  of  boys'  books 
weaves  about  Ticonderoga  and  Ethan  Allen,  to  a 
biography  of  Allen  and  a  history  of  the  Kevolution, 
is  an  easy  step,  under  a  teacher's  guidance.  More- 
over, the  child  of  foreign  parents,  still  speaking  his 
mother  tongue  at  home,  is  eager  to  know  of  his  new 
country,  and  calls  for  books  of  history  and  biography 
— real,  true  things  he  wants — where  the  American 
boy  more  often  asks  for  stories.  This  phenomenon  is 
not  yet  fully  explained.  It  is  observed  in  all  libraries 
near  centers  of  foreign  population.  It  is  one  aspect 
of  that  astonishing  assimilative  power  which  our 
country  possesses,  and  uses,  almost  unconsciously,  to 
mold  to  its  own  ways  all  who  come  within  its 
influence. 

But,  after  all,  the  change  in  reading  for  the  better, 
as  library  statistics  demonstrate  it,  is  rather  slight. 
The  figures  seem  to  indicate  a  drift  from  overmuch 
of  literature  of  feeling — the  novel — to  literature  of 
thinking;  from  emotion  to  judgment.  They  suggest 
it  only;  they  do  not  demonstrate  it.  Such  a  change 
cannot  be  expected.  None  the  less,  we  may  find  much 
cause  for  congratulation  in  the  present  situation. 
I  have  made  a  diagram  illustrating  the  print-using 

109 


LIBRARIES 

habit  ill  the  life  of  our  people.  If  read  from  left  to 
right,  the  ^vhole  area  represents  the  whole  population 
of  the  United  States.  Its  height  represents,  at  the 
extreme  left,  all  persons  living  who  are  under  one 
year  of  age,  and  then,  passing  to  the  right,  all  those 
of  each  successive  age,  up  to  seventy,  as  indicated  by 
the  numbers  at  the  bottom.  The  heavy  curved  line 
is  the  line  of  school  attendance.  School  begins  to 
gather  in  the  children  Avlien  they  are  four;  at  seven 
it  holds,  for  a  time  each  year,  70  per  cent  of  all  of 
that  age.  Nearly  all  who  enter  remain  until  they 
are  from  ten  to  twelve.  Then  they  begin  to  leave  in 
large  numbers,  and  hardly  more  than  30  per  cent 
enter  the  high  school  at  fourteen  or  fifteen,  and  the 
merest  fraction  enter  college  at  nineteen  or  twenty. 
This  tells  the  story.  We  scarcely  do  more  tliaii  teach 
our  children  to  read. 

Between  those  who  read  much  and  those  who 
read  none  there  is  of  course  no  such  hard  and  fast 
line  as  I  have  suggested.  There  are  but  fcAV  who  do 
not  read  at  least  the  signs  on  the  street-cars  or  the 
posters  by  the  country  road.  P>ut  reading,  even  in  a 
very  broad  sense  of  the  word,  has  not  yet  become  a 
universal  habit.  Those  Avho  teach,  those  who  read 
many  things  themselves,  those  who  write  books  or 
contribute  to  newspapers,  all  associate  chiefly  with 
reading  ])eople.  They  see  countless  opportunities  for 
reading  thrust  under  the  eyes  of  every  one.  They  con- 
sider the  newspapers,  the  schools,  tlie  libraries,  their 
own  children,  their  own  associates,  and  they  conclude 
that  every  one  reads.  Then  they  tiike  note  of  the 
character  of  the  print  Avhich  confronts  all  eyes,  the 
yelloAV  journal,  the  trifling  novel,  the  flimsy  magazine, 
the  nickel  story  papers,  the  torrent  of  that  literature 
which  they  scorn,  which  rarely  gets  even  the  compli- 

110 


WHAT  THE  TEOPLE  READ 

meiit  of  coiiclemnatioii  from  even  the  most  trivial  of 
literary  journals,  the  literature  of  the  submerged  90 
per  cent;  and,  viewing  all  these  things,  they  conclude 
that  not  only  does  every  one  read,  but  that  most  read 
wretched  stuff,  and  that  the  reading  public's  taste 
steadily  deteriorates.    Whereas  the  situation  in  fact 
is  this  •  School  attendance  grows  steadily  larger  every 
year,  relatively  as  Avell  as  absolutely.     It  includes 
more  of  the  children  of  five  and  six.    It  gathers  more 
of  the  four  and  five-year-olds.     And  especially  does 
it  hold  in  school  more  children  as  they  come  to  the 
working  ages  of  twelve,  thirteen,  and  fourteen.    This 
means  that  every  year  the  million  who  leave  school 
have  had  a  longer  training  in  print-using.  At  the  same 
time,  through  school  libraries  and  public  libraries, 
and  a  wiser  use  of  good  literature  for  reading  lessons, 
these  million  have  each  year  more  of  the   reading 
habit  and  a  better  taste.     Most  of  them  have,  how- 
ever, not  passed  the  sixth  grade.    Most  of  them  come 
from  homes  where  no  reading  is  done.    Most  of  them 
go  at  once  into  fields  of  work  Avhere  reading. is  not  a 
habit  and  ''literature''  is  an  unknown  word.    And  to 
these  we  must  add  the  many  thousands  who  do  not 
pass  through  the  school  area  at  all,  not  even  for  a  few 
short  years.     We  have,  then,  coming  to-day  into  this 
vast  kingdom  of  print— so  appallingly  vast,   so  de- 
pressingiy  commonplace — a  procession  with  the  same 
general  characteristics  it  has  long  had :  a  handful  of 
college  graduates,  a  larger  group  of  high  school  grad- 
uates— combined,  not  10  per  cent  of  the  whole — and  a 
rank  and  file  which  reads  very  little,  and  that  with 
difficulty.    The  procession,  I  say,  has  the  same  char- 
acteristics it  has  had  for  several  generations  past ;  but 
it  is  larger,  vastly  larger,  and  grows  larger  every 
year.    The  demand  for  something  to  read  comes  now 

111 


LIBRARIES 

from  millions,  formerly  from  a  few  tlioiisand.  They 
demand  reading  suited  to  their  capacities  and  tastes, 
and  the  supply  comes  forth.  The  bill-board,  the 
penny  pai)er,  and  the  5-cent  dreadful,  these  are  their 
third  and  fourth  readers,  their  literary  primers,  their 
introductions  to  better  things.  In  reading  them  they 
are  teaching  themselves  and  improving  themselves, 
and  in  almost  the  best  possible  way.  They  get  what 
thej'  wish,  they  read  with  interest  and  pleasure,  they 


ges  1 


40  50 

READERS    AND  NON-READERS 


take  profit  therefrom.  ^Moreover — and  this  is  the 
other  Aveighty  fact  in  the  case — they  steadily  improve 
in  their  choice.  The  chronicle  of  the  growth  of  clean 
and  wholesome  journals,  daily,  weekly,  and  monthly, 
in  the  past  two  decades  is  just  as  wonderful  in  its 
way  as  that  of  the  growth  of  those  yellow  papers 
which  make  us  cringe. 

Cheap  and  loud  newspapers  will  go  on  increasing 
in  numbei*.  The  better  i)apers  will  do  the  same.  The 
day  of  the  newspajier  is  yet  to  come.  In  twenty  years 
we,  as  a  people,  will  consume  many  times  the  daily 

112 


WHAT  THE  PEOPLE  READ 

print  per  capita  we  now  take  in.  Books  also  will 
mnlti])lT.  ]N'(»yel-rea(ling-  is  in  its  very  infancy.  And 
so  of  other  fields.  ^Meanwhile  the  library,  on  the  one 
side,  joins  forces  with  those  who  work  in  the  field  of 
school  attendance,  and  helps  to  give  the  yonngest 
prodnct  of  the  schools  at  least  a  glimpse  of  the  pleas- 
ures and  profits  of  good  l)ooks.  On  the  other  side,  it 
tries  to  make  itself,  as  it  were,  tlie  universal  journal, 
the  newspaper  of  all  time,  the  handy  book  of  reference 
for  the  worker  and  the  laboratory  of  the  scholar. 


113 


MAKING  A  LIBRARY  KNOWN 

Address  Delivered   before  the  Long  Island  Library 
Club,  1905 

In  makiug  a  library  known  the  first  and  best  of  all 
its  own  agencies  is,  of  course,  the  delivery  desk.  At 
this  place  more  people  learn  what  the  library  is,  how 
it  conducts  itself,  what  it  wishes  to  do  and  what  it  is 
doing  in  the  community,  than  anywhere  else.  At  this 
place,  also,  visitors  to  the  library  get  their  impression 
of  the  administration  of  the  institution.  Here  they 
learn  to  like  or  dislike  it,  to  approve  or  disapprove  of 
it,  to  wish  it  well  or  to  criticize  it,  to  give  it  sympathy 
and  aid,  or  neglect  and  discouragement. 

It  is  a  commonplace  that  the  mos^t  efficient  peoj^le 
in  a  library,  those  best  able  both  to  attract  and  to 
help  others,  should  be  detailed  to  meet  the  public  at 
the  delivery  desk.  Unfortunately,  owing  to  the  way 
in  which  libraries  are  now  organized,  it  is  difficult  to 
place  many  of  the  best  of  the  staff  at  this  point.  I 
grow  each  year  stronger  in  the  opinion  that  the  pur- 
chase, reception,  indexing  and  general  preparation 
for  the  shelves  of  books  have  withdrawn  from  the 
work  of  getting  in  touch  with  the  public  too  much  of 
the  library's  originality  and  skill.  The  catalogue  has 
become,  in  a  measure,  to  libraries  an  old  man  of  the 
sea.  Let  us  treat  our  books  more  simply,  and  our 
readers  more  skilfully.  After  all,  an  index  is  but  a 
tool. 

It  is  the  newspapers,  of  course,  which  of  all  out- 
side agencies  chiefly  help  to  make  the  library  known. 
I  do  not  need  to  enlarge  on  their  almost  universal 
sympathy  with  the  work  of  the  library,  their  unfail- 
ing courtesy  toward  it,  their  readiness  to  print 
material  in  regard  to  it,  even  although  it  must  often 

115 


LIBRARIES 

seem  to  the  editors  not  to  liave  a  very  strong  newsy 
tiavor.  A  librarian  ninst,  of  course,  bring  the  ma- 
terial he  wishes  printed  to  the  attention  of  the  news- 
papers in  the  right  way.  His  library  mnst  in  the  first 
place  have  that  attitude  toward  the  public  which  the 
newspaper  may  readily  expect  the  public  to  approve 
of.  He  makes  it  manifest,  if  he  can,  that  he  wishes  to 
have  the  library's  door  sill  worn  down  as  fast  as 
possible  by  the  coming  and  going  of  the  feet  of  those 
who  built  and  maintain  it. 

Having  made  it  plain  that  this  is  the  general  atti- 
tude of  the  library,  he  then  presents  t-he  specific  ma- 
terial he  wishes  to  have  printed  in  as  attractive  form 
as  possible.  The  notes  he  sends,  usually  typeAvritten, 
are  items  of  news,  brief  and  plain,  rather  than 
demands  or  complaints.  Most  particularly  he  tries  to 
keep  the  newspapers  in  touch  with  all  changes  and 
modifications  of  system.  Nothing  is  better  for  a  pultlic 
institution  than  publicity.  The  people  who  pay  for 
its  support  are  entitled  to  know — it  is  a  part  of  their 
education  to  know— all  its  ins  and  outs,  its  receipts, 
its  expenditures,  its  methods,  its  plans  and  ambitions. 
Newspapers  are  almost  invariably  willing  to  insert 
these  brief  notes.  They  feel  that  about  the  manage- 
ment of  a  public  library  there  should  not  be,  toward 
the  public,  the  slightest  intimation  of  a  desire  for 
secrecy.  I  learned  this  lesson  well  from  that  best  of 
American  newspapers,  the  Springfield  Republican. 
Of  course  there  are  matters  of  petty  and  personal 
detail  and  subjects  under  consideration  to  publish 
wliich  would  show  i)oor  judgment  or  poor  taste.  The 
newspapers  understand  this. 

To  illustrate  what  I  have  been  saying  about  the 
courtesy  of  tlie  newspaixMs  toward  libraries  and  their 
evident  belief  that  libraries  are  engaged  in  educa- 
tional work,  and  i)roi)er  to  be  noted   frequently  in 

IIG 


MAKING  A  LIBRARY  KNOWN 

their  columns,  I  have  caused  to  be  clipped  from  the 
newspapers  in  Newark  all  the  things  that  have  ap- 
peared about  the  library  during  thirty  days.  These 
items  I  have  mounted  on  cardboard  with  notes  to 
show  when  and  Avhere  they  appeared.  They  were 
published  in  three  newspapers  of  Newark,  two  daily 
and  one  Sunday  paper.  They  are  thirty-one  in 
number. 

The  longer  articles,  as  you  will  see,  are  reports  of, 
or  papers  read  at,  the  meeting  of  the  New  Jersey 
Library  Association  at  Asbury  Park  on  October  18. 
I  include  them  with  the  others  because  they  went  to 
the  i)apers  from  the  Newark  Library,  and  were  pre- 
I)ared  at  that  library  for  the  press.  And  further- 
more, the  Newark  librarian  was  the  president  of  the 
association  at  that  meeting  and  thought  it  his  duty 
to  secure  as  far  as  possible  the  publication  of  its 
proceedings. 

This  showing  of  what  the  newspapers  of  a  town 
have  done  for  their  public  library  in  thirty  days  is 
more  significant  of  the  journals'  good  will  toward  the 
library  than  anything  I  can  sa}'. 

The  next  in  order  is  perhaps  the  catalogue,  mean- 
ing by  this  printed  book  lists  and  bulletins,  or  what- 
ever form  it  may  take.  The  question  of  the  advisa- 
bility of  having  a  complete  catalogue  of  a  library  in 
one  volume  I  cannot  now  go  into.  In  a  large  town, 
where  many  cannot  go  to  the  library,  a  brief  author 
list  of  all  of  the  most  important  books  in  it  seems 
to  be  quite  an  essential  thing,  though  few  libraries 
can  now  afford  it.  As  to  bulletins  and  lists  in  general, 
I  am  sure  they  should  usually  be  made  many,  small 
and  simple,  instead  of  few,  large  and  all-inclusive. 
The  eight-page  bulletin,  for  example,  containing  a  list 
of  all  the  books  added  to  the  library  in  a  month,  is 
almost  as  expensive  as  the  same  list  printed  on  eight 

117 


LIBRAEIES 

separate  sheets.  In  the  latter  form  it  can  be  given 
entire  to  any  borrower  who  wishes  the  whole  list. 
One  of  the  sheets  meets  the  wishes  of  nearly  all  the 
persons  Avho  care  to  take  a  list  away.  Lists  thus 
published  give  eight  times  as  many  lists  for  the  same 
money. 

These  lists  sliould  be  simple  in  tlieir  entries,  witli- 
out  change  in  style  and  size  of  type,  and  without 
undue  prominence  given  to  the  numbers.  The  more 
like  ordinary  reading  matter  the  entry  for  the  book 
is  made,  the  more  likely  the  ordinary  reader  is  to 
understand  it.  These  lists,  especially  if  brief  and 
devoted  to  some  one  topic,  can  be  to  good  advantage 
mailed  to  persons  in  the  toAvn  who  are  known  to  be 
interested  in  special  subjects. 

Work  done  for  and  through  the  schools  comes 
next  in  order.  Every  teacher  is  a  possible  promoter 
of  the  library's  work.  She  can  win  to  it  every  year, 
if  she  will,  forty  or  fifty  friends  in  her  pupils,  and 
through  them  can  win  to  its  advocacy,  and  in  a  meas- 
ure to  its  use,  almost  as  many  families.  Small 
wonder  that  we  ask  the  schools  to  help  us!  It  is 
the  library's  place  to  be  of  use  to  them;  it  is  the 
library's  good  fortune  if  it  have  the  skill  to  win  their 
good  will  and  active  aid. 

If  the  library  has  a  room  in  which  meetings — edu- 
cational, charitable  and  civic — can  be  held,  these 
meetings  may  almost  be  placed  next  in  order  among 
the  library's  agencies  for  making  itself  known.  Most 
libraries  are  far  too  conservative  in  this  matter.  Few 
will  remain  so  long.  The  schools  are  beginning  to 
show  us  the  way.  We  are  to  have  Sunday  lectures 
in  the  Newark  Library,  the  school  authorities  having 
led  the  way  by  granting  for  that  purpose  buildings 
which  a  short  time  ago  were  thought  sacred  to  the 
children's  weekday  work. 

lis 


MAKING  A  LIBRARY  KNOWN 

The  work  which  the  library  does  for  and  with  the 
study  clubs  and  volunteer  organizations  of  all  kinds 
in  its  town  is,  of  course,  one  of  the  good  ways  of 
making  itself  known,  felt  and  appreciated.  If  the 
clubs  meet  in  the  library  building  the  work  for  them 
is  by  so  much  the  easier  and  more  effective  as  a 
means  of  publicity.  Many  organizations  have  re- 
ceived much  assistance  from  libraries  in  the  way  of 
suggestions,  books  and  pictures.  I  believe  the  time 
is  coming  when  they  will  go  a  step  further  and  ask 
the  libraries  to  provide  them  with  courses  of  study. 
This  is  more  likely  to  happen  if  libraries  can  secure 
the  cooperation  of  experts  in  colleges  and  other  places 
in  the  compilation  of  such  courses. 

Circulars  of  all  kinds  and  personal  notes  are 
helpful  in  bringing  the  library  to  the  attention  of 
individuals.  Sometimes  a  weekly  or  monthly  bulletin 
is  sent  to  a  group  of  people  like  the  teachers  or  the 
members  of  some  organization. 

It  is  desirable  to  bring  the  library  to  the  attention 
of  busy  professional  men  and  students,  even  those 
who  have  collections  of  their  own  and  rarely  use  the 
library.  These  can  sometimes  be  reached  by  sending 
to  them  a  few  times  in  each  winter  a  postal  card 
telling  them  that  a  certain  book  has  just  been  received 
at  the  library,  and  will  be  held  for  a  time,  in  case 
they  care  to  see  it. 

Posters  and  bulletins  hung  in  conspicuous  places 
throughout  the  city  are  useful  methods  of  gaining 
the  attention  of  many.  Posters,  like  book  lists  and 
circulars,  should  be  as  brief  as  posssible.  They 
should  be  well  printed,  and  in  case  they  are  hung  in 
hotel  corridors,  barber  shops  and  other  public  places, 
they  should  be  neatly  and  simply  framed. 

Exhibitions  in  the  library,  either  of  material 
belonging  to  the  library  itself  or  of  paintings  or  other 

119 


LIBRARIES 

things  lent  for  tlie  purpose,  in  many  cases  draw  many 
to  the  institution.  These  exhibitions,  like  some  of 
the  other  things  I  have  mentioned,  are  oftentimes 
more  helpful  in  making  the  library  known  through 
the  opportunity  they  give  for  ncAVspaper  note  and 
comment,  than  through  the  actual  visits  paid  to  them 
by  people  interested.  Whether  or  no  much  time 
should  be  spent  in  making  a  display  or  exhibition 
would  seem  to  depend  entirely  on  local  conditions — 
the  character  of  the  library  and  of  its  community.  The 
exact  benefits  that  may  be  derived  from  this  as  from 
most  other  forms  of  advertising,  it  is  impossible  to 
estimate. 

Delivery  and  deposit  stations  bring  the  library 
to  the  very  doors  of  many  people  in  the  city  who 
never  can  visit  the  main  building  itself.  Delivery 
stations  seem  a  particularly  unsympathetic  way  of 
getting  books  into  people's  hands.  The  arm's  length 
method  of  selecting  through  a  catalogue,  the  many 
disappointments  because  of  the  constant  demand  for 
the  new  books,  of  which  the  supply  is  always  inade- 
quate, these  alone  discourage  many  from  the  con- 
tinued use  of  the  delivery  station.  The  deposit  sta- 
tion, a  small  collection  of  1>ooks  placed  in  a  store  on 
open  shelves  and  cared  for  by  the  storekeeper — this 
seems  more  successful.  It  is  a  representative  of  the 
library  itself  instead  of  the  mere  shadow  thereof  in 
the  way  of  a  book  list. 

Home  libraries  have  been  very  useful  where  care- 
fully and  skilfully  administered  and  have  resulted  in 
putting  the  library  on  a  good  footing  with  some  of 
the  people  most  difficult  to  reach.  An  objection  to 
them  is  that  if  they  are  to  be  successful  they  must 
be  carried  on  by  skilled  workers,  workers  who  have 
been  trained  in  the  l)est  methods  of  what  is  called 

120 


MAKING  A  LIBRARY  KNOWN 

settlement  work,  and  such  people  are  not  often  found 
on  the  staff  of  a  public  library. 

Into  the  librarian's  own  personal  work  in  a  com- 
munity it  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  go  in  detail. 
He  or  she  belongs  to  certain  clubs  and  organizations. 
He,  perhaps,  makes  many  helpful  acquaintances 
through  a  church,  perhaps,  through  organizations 
like  social  clubs,  perhaps,  through  business  associ- 
ations like  a  board  of  trade.  All  of  these  forms  of 
personal  Avork  will  be  found  to  draw  attention  in  the 
right  way  to  the  library  itself.  The  librarian  must 
be  well  known  if  his  library  is,  for  he  cannot,  being 
a  public  servant,  divorce  himself  in  the  public  mind 
from  the  institution  he  adndnisters. 

Professional  organizations  like  the  national  and 
state  and  local  library  associations  give  the  librarian 
an  opportunity — as  you  give  me  to-day — to  present 
the  work  of  his  library  to  his  constituents  in  a  way 
which  attracts  their  attention  and  informs  them. 
Few  citizens  are  slow  to  see  that  it  is  to  their  advan- 
tage to  have  their  public  servant,  the  librarian,  inter- 
est himself  in  library  meetings,  make  himself  known 
as  one  proud  of  their  library,  interested  in  tlieir 
industries  and  progress,  glad  of  an  opportunity  to 
represent  their  city  and  wishing  always  to  learn  of 
liis  colleagues  their  latest  and  best  ideas  for  adoption 
in  his  own  community.  I  think  it  quite  proper  tliat 
I  take  advantage  of  the  invitation  you  have  kindly 
given  me  to  speak  to  you  to  show  you  by  indirection 
how  proud  Newark  is  of  her  beautiful  library  luiild- 
ing  and  how  generous  she  is  in  her  wish  tlmt  the 
institution  which  lives  in  it  be  active,  helpful,  and 
well  advertised. 

121 


WHAT  STATE  AND  LOCAL  LIBKAKY  ASSOCI- 
ATIONS CAN  DO  FOE  LIBEARY  INTERESTS 

Address  Delivered  before  the  American  Library 
Association  Conference,  Portland,  1905 

In  one  of  the  great  books  of  the  world,  written 
about  fifty  years  ago,  the  author  has  a  chapter  or 
two  on  man's  mental  and  moral  faculties.  In  them 
he  tells  how,  as  he  modestly  ventures  to  imagine  it, 
men  learned  to  be  moral,  to  have  a  feeling  for  con- 
duct, to  think  of  other  men  as  possessed  of  rights, 
to  be  at  peace  with  others,  to  understand  others,  to 
get  help  from  others,  to  work  with  others  for  a  com- 
mon end,  to  cooperate,  to  organize.  This  process,  all 
compact  with  thought  and  feeling,  this  growth  of 
the  animal  into  man,  has  been  long  continued;  it  still 
goes  on;  it  m-dj  never  end. 

Now,  it  is  far  in  thought  from  the  snarling  of  the 
white  and  yellow  dogs  of  war  in  eastern  Asia  to  our 
gathering  of  peaceful  bookmen  for  mutual  aid  and 
consolation.  Yet  the  two  events  illustrate  at  once 
the  conditions  from  which  we  have  come  and  the 
progress  we  have  made.  It  pays,  we  now  say,  for 
some  to  work  together;  and  it  pays,  we  still  say,  for 
some  to  fight  one  another.  That  is  our  conclusion; 
thus  far,  and  thus  far  only,  the  race  has  gone  in  that 
slow  march  toward  humanity  which  Darwin  so 
simply  outlined  fifty  years  ago. 

This  is  a  large  text  for  a  humble  theme.  But  why 
not  begin  with  the  obvious?  If  ever  they  seem  of 
doubtful  value — these  organizers  of  ours — let  us 
remind  ourselves  that  by  such  in  good  part  has  man 
learned  to  be  his  neighbor's  neighbor  and  that  neigh- 
bor's fellow-citizen.     To  work  with  your  fellows  to  a 

123 


LIBRARIES 

common  end — this  is  to  be  civilized,  to  be  moral,  to 
be  elKieient.  This  makes  nations  possible  and 
promises  the  parliament  of  the  Avorld. 

And  so,  in  speaking  of  associations  of  librarians 
the  first  thing  to  be  said  is,  that  they  effect  so  much 
b}'  the  mere  fact  tli;it  tliey  are.  They  do  so  mncli  of 
which  Ave  are  but  vaguely  conscious,  they  so  often 
give  to  so  many  without  outward  sign  tliat  subtle 
feeling  of  comradeship  wliich  becomes  before  one 
knoAVS  it  a  stimulus  to  further  eff'ort  and  a  guide  to 
thiit  effort's  profitable  expense.  One  may  Avell  say, 
then,  that  the  best  Avork  of  an  association  is  the 
association  itself. 

To  put  it  more  definitely,  and  to  point  to  some  of 
the  secondary  gains,  we  can  say  that  to  organize  an 
association,  no  matter  hoAV  poorly  attended  its  meet- 
ings may  be,  teaches  much  to  those  who  organize  it,  if 
to  no  others.  You  need  not  fear  over-organization. 
Take  your  lesson  from  modern  industrialism.  Be 
sure  that  tlie  l;nvs  of  nature  hold  liere  as  elscAvhere 
and  that  tlie  useless  (lis;ii)i»ears.  Seize  the  opportun- 
ity to  get  lessons  in  management  and  the  art  of 
Avorking  togetlu'r.  ^Moreover,  tlu'  meeting  Avhich  you 
carefully  plan,  provide  si)eakers  for,  advertise  among 
your  colleagues,  aimounce  in  the  papers  and  <luly 
hold,  though  attended  by  but  the  proverl)ial  two  or 
three,  has  served  well;  it  has  stimulated  those  Avho 
prepared  for  it,  has  made  your  calling  more  favor- 
ably knoAvn,  and  so  has  had  its  use.  One  may  even 
say  that,  after  all,  it  Avere  often  almost  as  well  did 
the  well-planned  meeting  never  take  place,  so  effec- 
tive in  education  is  its  making,  so  meagre  often  are 
the  tangible  results  on  its  ap])ointed  day. 

My  theme  is  mutual  aid  as  a  nuirk  of  progress,  as 
an  aid  to  progress,  as  civilization  itself.     Tbe  moral 

124 


WHAT  LIBEAKY  ASSOCIATIONS  CAN  DO 

is,  establish  library  associations.  The  special  appli- 
cation is  to  the  Pacific  coast;  and  the  illustrative 
examples  are  in  the  list  which  I  offer  you  in  printed 
form  of  the  library  associations  and  clubs  of  the 
world,  77  in  number,  57  of  them  in  the  United  States 
with  a  total  of  over  8,000  memberships.  How  inspir- 
ing is  the  story  they  tell  of  the  growth  of  the  library 
idea  among  us  in  the  last  thirty  years. 

In  the  West  particularly  you  will  find  many  intel- 
ligent readers,  not  at  all  connected  with  libraries, 
who  are  interested  in  library  associations.  Do  not 
be  discouraged  b^^  the  small  number  in  your  own 
vicinity  of  those  who  are  of  your  own  calling.  The 
tools  of  all  the  professional  classes  are  books.  Dis- 
cussions on  books,  their  making,  their  indexing  in 
library  catalogs,  their  selection,  and  their  care,  will 
alwaj's  attract  book-users.  You  have  teachers'  asso- 
ciations, and  they  are  ahvays  ready  to  give  up  a  part 
of  their  meetings  to  the  discussion  of  library  ques- 
tions. A  library  department  in  a  teachers'  associ- 
ation can  often  do  much  to  bring  the  library  question 
into  view. 

And  the  vast  distances  which  sejjarate  the  western 
librarians  must  not  discourage  tliem.  Their  large 
meetings  must  be  few,  and  even  small  ones  may  be 
difficult.  Therefore  more  must  be  done  at  each  pos- 
sible library  center.  Let  a  few  come  togetlier,  organ- 
ize in  a  simple  way,  call  on  all  interested  to  support 
them,  exploit  their  aims  and  methods  freely  in  the 
newspapers,  prepare  a  program  of  as  general  interest 
as  possible,  rather  literary  than  technical,  hold  meet- 
ings, no  matter  how  light  the  attendance,  and  publish 
through  the  papers  a  full  report  of  proceedings. 

I  have  said  enough  about  the  value  of  such  work 
to  those  who  carry  it  through ;  but  too  much  cannot 

125 


LIBRARIES 

be  said  about  the  value  to  your  calling  of  discreet 
and  dignified  publicity.  We  have  not  enough 
libraries  yet,  so  we  assume;  and  those  we  have,  we 
frankly  admit,  fail  by  much  of  reaching  their  highest 
efficiency.  We  wish  to  impress  our  fellows  with  a 
sense  of  the  value  of  libraries  to  their  communities. 
Then,  we  wish  to  show  how  easy  it  is  for  any  com- 
munity to  establish  and  support  it.  Then,  we  wish 
to  learn  from  one  another  and  to  call  forth  from  the 
public  criticisms  and  suggestions.  The  newspapers 
like  to  help  us  to  do  these  things.  They  can  be  done, 
with  their  help,  by  one  person.  They  can  be  better 
done,  usually,  by  three  or  four.  They  can  be  done 
better  still,  usually,  by  an  organization  with  a  name, 
an  object,  officers,  meetings,  and  reports.  This  is 
sound  psychological  theory.  It  has  worked  well 
many  times  in  practice. 

Let  me  be  still  more  specific,  for  I  am  warned  that 
my  talk  must  be  practical. 

You  are,  we  will  suppose,  the  one  person  in  your 
community  who  is  interested  in  public  libraries;  you 
may  be  a  librarian  and  wish  to  join  with  the  two  or 
three  other  library  workers  in  your  part  of  the  state 
in  learning  more  of  your  calling  and  in  increasing 
library  interest;  or  you  may  have  no  library  in  your 
place  and  wish  to  see  one  established.  You  send  to 
your  library  commission  or  to  the  A.  L.  A.  headquar- 
ters, or  to  any  librarian  of  experience  and  ask  for 
suggestions.  These  being  considered  you  look  at 
your  own  problem,  select  the  people  likely  to  help 
you,  two  or  three,  aiid  talk  the  subject  over  with  each 
of  them.  Then  you  lay  your  plans  and  form  a  rather 
definite  scheme.  You  ask  your  friends  to  come  to- 
gether and  you  put  your  ideas  before  them;  and,  as 
you  know  your  ground  and  know  what  you  want,  you 

126 


WHAT  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATIONS  CAN  DO 

push  them  through.  The  meeting  votes  for  an  organ- 
ization; appoints  one  or  two  to  bring  in  a  constitu- 
tion and  a  list  of  officers;  and,  if  it  seem  wise,  you 
complete  the  organization  at  one  sitting.  You  need 
not  have  money  to  print  constitutions  and  by-laws 
and  officers,  for  the  newspapers  will  do  it  for  you. 

Next  comes  a  meeting.  You  study  first  the  audi- 
ence you  may  get — the  minister,  the  teacher,  the  read- 
ing women,  and  other  possibles — and  decide  what 
topics  will  most  interest  them.  Perhaps  such  as 
these :  "Our  present  library  laws  and  how  they  apply 
in  our  town."  "How  they  started  the  library  in 
Blankville" — another  small  town  in  your  state. 
"How  libraries  are  helping  the  school  teachers" ;  and, 
for  the  general  reader,  "The  three  best  novels  of  the 
year."  The  meeting  place  is  a  private  house,  or  the 
school-house,  or  a  church.  See  to  it  yourself  that  the 
newspaper  tells  about  all  these  things. 

The  smaller  your  town  the  larger  the  audience, 
relatively,  that  you  will  get.  l^ou  have  prepared  for 
absences  of  speakers,  you  have  arranged  for  some  to 
speak  on  call  on  the  subject  that  you  select,  you  leave 
nothing  to  spontaneous,  unconsidered  utterance;  for 
though  you  hope  there  may  be  free  discussion  you  do 
not  depend  on  it  for  any  points  you  wish  to  make. 
I'ou  prepare  the  report  for  the  paper  yourself.  If 
the  nearest  available  one  is  small  and  can  only  print 
a  brief  report,  you  abstract  the  speeches,  enlarge  on 
the  purpose  of  the  movement,  and  name  the  names 
of  those  most  interested. 

I  dwell  on  the  obvious;  but  with  good  reason. 
My  list  shows  that  there  are  many  library  associ- 
ations, yet  observation  has  taught  us  that  few  of  them 
are  ever  properly  effective.  The  one  moving,  push- 
ing, persistent  person  is  lacking;  too  much  depend- 

127 


LIBRARIES 

eiice  is  put  on  the  meeting  itself;  not  enough  is  won 
from  preparation  for  it  or  from  the  proper  publicity 
it  can  induce.  And  so  I  think  it  no  fault  that  I  urge 
again  that  you  yourself  be  the  one  efficient  person, 
and  that  you  remember  always  that  it  is  the  organi- 
zation's daily  life  throughout  the  year  and  the  story 
thereof  which  chiefly  help  your  calling.  The  meet- 
ings may  be  much,  the  constant  strivings  between 
them  may  be  much  more.  It  is  not  simply  for  these 
A.  L.  A.  gatherings  we  have  so  much  enjoyed  that 
some  have  crossed  a  continent.  You  of  the  West  and 
we  of  the  East — and  the  you  and  we  include  those 
at  home  as  well  as  those  here — have  for  these  ten 
months  been  looking  forward  to  this  gathering,  have 
had  our  thoughts  turned  often  to  our  great  northwest 
and  to  the  nourishing  of  libraries  therein,  and  have 
gained  thereby  a  broader  view.  I  am  sure  I  speak 
for  my  eastern  colleagues  as  well  as  for  myself  when 
I  say  that  to  contemplate  our  western  empire  and 
to  consider  the  task  awaiting  our  Pacific  friends  and 
the  brave  beginnings  they  have  made  induce  a  most 
excellent  state  of  sanctified  humility.  Praise  be  to 
the  A.  L.  A.  which  brings  us  here,  and  to  our  western 
friends  who  persuaded  us  to  come ! 

I  have  touched  on  the  details  of  the  smallest 
library  association.  Let  me  say  something  also  of 
the  larger  ones,  usually  easy  to  form,  often  given  to 
sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cynd)als,  sometimes 
dying  and  (piite  unmindful  of  tlie  fact,  and  never  as 
effective  as  opjtortunity  permits. 

They  are  often  too  conservative.  They  think  it  is 
their  wisdom  Avhich  restrains  them,  while  in  fact  it  is 
simply  their  mediocrity.  They  rise  no  higher  than 
their  average.     They  repress  the  aggressive  and  the 

128 


WHAT  LIBRARY  ASSOCIxVTlONS  CAN  DO 

original.  Tliey  fear  tliey  may  do  something  im- 
proper, and,  clothed  in  perfect  propriety,  they  reach 
long  before  they  are  aware  of  it  a  Nirvana  of  noble 
inutility. 

For  special  sins,  common,  but  of  course  not  uni- 
versal, they  make  their  meetings  too  long.     In  their 
zeal  to  make  many  good  points  they  fail  of  one.     They 
crowd  their  programs  until  they  are  dizzily  and  tedi- 
ously   encyclopedic.     They    fail   in    hospitality,    and 
the  members  gather  solemnly  and  glare  at  one  another 
across  a  crowded  room  and  pass  out  again  with  never 
a  gain  in  fellowship.     They  harp  too  much  on  one 
sti-ing ;  or  they  talk  unconsidered  prattle  about  details 
which  only  carefully  chosen  words  can  set  duly  forth. 
They  parade  their  fluent  speakers  until  their  meetings 
become  little  more  than  one  voice  crying  in  a  wilder- 
ness of  inattentive  ears.     They  do  not  give  the  timid 
a  chance,  rather  they  don't  compel  the  shy  to  take 
up  their  burdens  and  talk.     They  bring  the  heads,  the 
chiefs,  forever  into  gatherings  with  the  assistants  and 
check  that  outpouring  of  the  spirit  which  the  latter 
would  delight  in.     They  do  not  cultivate  the  art  of 
provoking  and  guiding  discussion.     They  look  for  a 
crop  of  spontaneous  ideas  in  a  soil  wliich  does  not 
grow  them.     They  do  not  make  sure  that  from  the 
floor,  at  the  call  of  the  ch'airman,  shall  come,  in  seem- 
iug  impromptu,  the  best  things  of  the  day.     They  do 
uot  work  together  as  they  should.     Every  club  and 
association  in  the  country,  more  than  fifty  of  them, 
should  be  in  touch  with  the  A.  L.  A.,  and  so  with  each 
other.     Every  member  of  each  and  every  association 
should  be  made  to  feel  that  by  joining  her  own  asso- 
ciation she  becomes  united  with  the  national  organi- 
zation and  will  get  something  from  it.     They  do  not 

129 


LIBRARIES 

— the  larger  and  stronger  ehihs  are  the  more  able  in 
this  direction  and  thereby  the  greater  sinners — 
make  themselves  of  direct  use  to  the  community 
of  readers  at  large  by  producing  work  of  practical 
value  to  readers  and  students.  The  hundreds  of 
libraries  and  library  workers,  gathered  within  some 
of  the  great  eastern  cities,  have,  in  the  ecstasy  of  self- 
contemplation,  quite  forgotten  to  gather  the  golden 
fruit  of  oppcu'tunity^ — and  I  speak  as  one  of  the 
sinners. 

Further,  these  larger  organizations,  and  the 
smaller,  too,  are  not  sufficiently  careful  about  the 
place  of  meeting,  that  it  be  dignified,  homelike,  and 
quiet.  For  any  save  very  large  meetings,  they  forget 
that  a  platform  aud  footlights  or  anything  approach- 
ing them  are  fatal. 

Once  more,  associations  large  and  small  and  espe- 
cially the  larger  ones,  usually  fail  not  only  to  carry 
through  each  year  some  work  of  permanent  value  to 
the  profession  and  to  general  and  special  students — 
work  like  annotated  book  lists,  study  courses,  brief 
manuals  on  the  use  of  books,  general  or  special — they 
fail  also  sufficiently  to  acquaint  the  public  through 
the  press  with  the  possible  utilities  of  a  public  library. 
ViX  nature  the  bookman  is  a  gentle  and  retiring  crea- 
ture. He  likes  his  library  and  takes  proper  pride 
in  it.  He  helps  to  organize  a  club,  by  joining  it  at 
least,  and  tluMi  contents  himself  with  tlie  glow  of 
comradesbi])  whicli  comes  tiierefrom.  Tlie  ])OSsible 
public  influence  of  the  instrument  he  has  helped  to 
fashion  is  not  well  discerned.  Every  club  sliould 
])rovide  for  the  publication,  from  week  to  week  or 
from  month  to  month,  of  notes  on  the  elements  of 
librariology.     Librariology     is     the     knowledge     of 

130 


WHAT  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATIONS  CAN  DO 

libraries  aud  the  art  of  using  tliern.  No  important 
journal  in  the  conntry  is  more  ready  to  aid  the  lil)rary 
movement  or  more  able  to  do  it  intelligently  than  the 
New  York  Independent.  A  recent  editorial  in  its 
columns  on  "Libraries  for  men"  shows  how  far  we 
have  come  from  making  clear  to  editors  what  a 
library  is,  to  say  nothing  of  what  it  hopes  and  tries 
to  be.  If  the  Independent  is  still  thus  untaught, 
how  unskilled  in  librariology  must  be  the  average 
of  men.  You  in  the  West  will  repair  this  lack,  I  am 
sure,  sooner  than  we  of  the  East.  Precedents  and 
conventions  rule  you  less.  You  will  individually 
when  you  can,  and  through  your  clubs  always,  keep 
up  a  stream  of  expository  contributions  on  librari- 
ology in  your  daily  and  weekly  press.  The  East  is 
coming  to  realize  the  need  of  these  forms  of  activity. 
The  A.  L.  A.  has  now  both  the  disposition  and  the 
means,  not  only  to  do  good  things  for  readers,  but 
also  to  inform  the  public  of  the  existence,  the  char- 
acter and  the  possibilities  for  usefulness  of  collections 
of  books.  Shall  I  be  more  specific?  Need  I  refer 
again  to  the  committee  on  publicity  long  ago  advo- 
cated and  never  yet  realized?  Can  I  say,  without 
being  misunderstood,  that  to  publish  an  "A.  L.  A. 
catalog"  and  an  A.  L.  A.  Booklist  is  not  enough? 
That  if  a  health  food  is  worth  wide  advertising, 
surely  these  library  products  also  are?  Tliat  160 
library  people  should  spend  nearly  |40,000  to  cross 
the  continent  and  meet  with  you,  was  not  this  such 
an  indication  of  library  progress  as  the  public 
generally  would  like  to  hear  of? 

After  I  have  had  my  first  say  I  am  ready  always 
to  give  ear  to  But  and  If  and  Remember  and  Perhaps. 
You  may  attach  them  to  these  suggestions  as  you 

131 


LIBRARIES 

will.  I  will  myself  add  but  one.  It  is  this :  Remem- 
ber, that  after  all  if  you  wish  a  certain  specific  thing 
done,  you  must  do  it  yourself.  The  crowd  has  the 
passing  emotion,  the  one  man  brings  tireless  zeal. 
Don't  think  an  organization  is  an  end.  If  a  good 
club  is  the  work  of  your  hands,  do  not  think  it  useful 
unless  it  does  something.  We  can't  conquer  the 
public  with  our  clubs.  Moreover,  never  let  your  as- 
sociation hamper  its  strongest  members.  Democracy 
is  the  apotheosis  of  mediocrity.  If  the  many  would 
advance  they  must  look  to  the  leader  to  guide  them. 
In  union  is  strength ;  but  the  worth  of  strength  is  in 
its  use.  An  association  tends  to  the  academic  and  to 
hold  its  members  to  a  standard,  often  a  narrow  one. 

I  return  once  more  to  my  text,  mutual  aid,  as  at 
once  progress  itself  and  the  measure  of  civilization, 
and  to  one  of  its  general  applications,  an  appeal  for 
practice  in  the  art  of  organizing.  If  we  join  with  our 
fellows  for  an  end  of  value  to  us  all,  we  learn  thus 
far  to  love  our  neighbor  in  the  best  possible  and  the 
only  universally  acceptable  w^ay — through  finding 
him  useful  and  ourselves  inspired. 

In  Newark  we  have  made  a  rough  check-list  of  all 
the  voluntary  organizations  of  the  city,  religious,  edu- 
cational, industrial,  philanthropic,  beneficiary.  In  a 
population  of  270,000,  largely  foreign,  we  find  2,700 
of  these  with  about  25,000  officials,  and  with  a  total 
estimated  membership  of  190,000.  We  hope  to  make 
use  of  more  of  these  organizations  than  we  have 
heretofore  by  appealing  to  more  of  them  through  the 
books  which  touch  on  the  subjects  for  which,  directly 
or  indirectly,  they  are  organized.  I  mention  them 
here  only  to  emphasize  my  statement  tliat  we  have 
learned  that  it  pays  sometimes  to  work  with  our 
neighbors  and  not  always  to  fight  them;  and  to  illus- 

132 


WHAT  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATIONS  CAN  DO 

trate  the  old  doctrine,  now  sometimes  forgotten,  that 
those  who  work  together  of  their  own  free  will 
thereby  build  a  better  civilization,  on  the  firm  basis  of 
profitable  fellowship,  than  was  ever  built  on  laws, 
whether  enforced  by  emperors  or  democracies. 

The  conclusion  is,  encourage  your  colleagues,  con- 
fer with  them,  work  with  them,  and  as  opportunity 
permits  join  with  them  in  organized  effort  to  attain 
certain  definite  results.  So  doing  you  get  wisdom  for 
yourself  and  growth  in  esteem  and  efficiency  for  your 
profession. 


133 


MANY-SIDED  INTEREST :  HOW  THE  LIBRARY 
PROMOTES   IT 

School  Journal,  December  22,  1906 

I  believe  that  libraries  are  for  scholars;  that  they 
should  supply  the  material  which  studious  aud 
thoughtful  meu  need  in  pursuing  their  studies  and 
ripening  their  thoughts.  In  libraries  the  lamp  of 
learning  should  be  kept  always  lighted,  that  here  men 
of  study  and  reflection — the  guides  we  must  always 
come  to  at  the  last — may  relight  if  need  be  their 
several  torches. 

I  believe  that  libraries  are  for  delights,  and  should 
contribute  directly  to  the  happiness  of  their  people. 

I  believe  that  libraries  are  for  other  purposes  also. 
I  wish  now  to  set  forth  my  belief  that  libraries 
should  serve  as  incentives  aud  stimulants ;  that  they 
should  try  by  all  proper  methods  to  increase  the  in- 
terest their  constituents  take  in  the  world  they  live 
in,  to  the  end  that  those  constituents,  the  people,  may 
find  that  the  library  they  have  set  up  has  helped 
them  to  become  broader,  more  generous-minded,  bet- 
ter balanced  and  more  able  and  Avilling  to  work  for 
the  common  welfare  with  their  neighbors — with  their 
neighbors  who  are  both  tlieir  fellow-countrymen  and 
their  fellows  of  other  countries.  The  library  should 
be  a  mental  irritant  in  the  community ;  it  should  help 
to  make  the  old  fresh,  tlie  strange  tolerable,  the  new 
questionable,  and  all  things  wonderful.  I  believe  this 
because  I  think  most  people  are  too  well  satisfied  with 
their  own  narrow  lives,  and  do  not  take  interest 
enough  in  the  life  about  them;  if  they  took  more 
interest  in  it  they  would  understand  each  other  better, 

135 


LIBRARIES 

would  work  together  better,  and  would  make  this  a 
more  peaceful,  more  effective  and  happier  world. 

Let  me  restate  this  ancient  creed  in  another  way. 

A  secret  of  hai)piness  is  accomplishment.  This  is 
as  true  of  a  people  as  of  a  person.  A  people's  power 
of  accomplishment  is  their  social  eflficiency. 

The  secret  of  social  efficiency  is  voluntary  organi- 
zation :  not  governmental  organization,  which  is  com- 
pulsory, but  the  free  organization  to  which  we  chiefly 
owe  our  industrial  development,  our  esthetic,  our 
social,  and  our  religious  life. 

This  voluntary  organization  is  voluntary  coopera- 
tion— to  restate  it  in  terms  which  make  prominent 
its  essential  points  of  skill,  free  choice,  and  mutual 
aid. 

The  secret  of  cooperation  is  enlightened  sympathy. 
Not  pity,  not  condescension,  but  kinship  of  thought 
through  feeling,  through  the  good  Avill  which  accom- 
panies a  clear  understanding  of  the  views  of  life,  the 
prejudices,  the  creeds,  and  the  aims  of  others. 

The  secret  of  sympathy  is  likeness  in  custom, 
ideal,  and  aim.  How  and  why  sympathy  springs 
from  similarity  in  manners,  morals,  and  purpose  is 
still  a  secret;  but  we  know  that  we  work  gladly  and 
well  with  those  whose  manners,  tliougli  they  differ 
from  our  own,  we  are  wonted  to;  whose  ideals,  though 
they  differ  from  our  own,  we  know  are  not  bad ;  whose 
ambitions,  tliough  not  ours,  we  find  lead  to  no  liarm. 

The  pul)]ic  library,  like  the  public  school  is  the 
product  of  mutual  aid,  of  a  cooperation  primarily 
voluntary.  It  is  in  turn  itself  a  factor,  and  as  such 
adds  to  social  efficiency  not  by  teaching  directly  how 
effectively  to  organize  and  cooperate,  but  by  promot- 
ing sympathy.  It  exposes  to  many  the  similarities 
between  manners,  ideals,  and  aims  which  seem  at  first 

136 


HOW  LIBRARIES  PROMOTE  INTEREST 

quite  dissimilar.  Goveriimeut,  diplomacy,  ^var — 
these  are  on  the  surface  in  our  relations  with  other 
nations,  for  example,  the  Orientals.  These  super- 
ficial international  relations  point  to  a  substratum 
of  individual  ignorance,  narrowness,  and  selfishness. 
We  first  ignore,  then  despise,  then  fear,  then  hate  the 
alien.  But  contact  opens  our  eyes.  We  soon  find 
that  though  his  manners  are  strange  they  are  harm- 
less; that  though  his  ideals  are  curiously  expressed, 
the}'  are  high ;  that  though  his  aims  are  not  what  we 
inherit,  they  are  worthy-.  Then  we  applaud,  we 
sympathize,  we  cooj)erate — and  peace  is  here. 

The  native  antagonism  of  races  is  as  I  have  said, 
an  exaggerated  form  of  the  personal  antagonism 
which  is  at  large  among  us,  and  among  all  other 
peoples,  and  always  will  be,  until  knowledge  begets 
sympathy  and  diversity  of  forms  in  manners,  ideals, 
and  aims  is  no  longer  taken  for  diversity  in  substance. 

The  library,  in  its  efforts  to  expose  to  its  constitu- 
ents the  likeness  of  their  aims,  customs,  and  morals, 
finds  that  as  the  secret  of  ignorance  is  indifference, 
so  the  secret  of  knowledge  is  interest.  This  secret  is 
more  important  to  library  than  to  school.  The  school 
can  compel  to  knowledge;  the  library  must  allure  to 
knowledge.  The  schools  are  for  educible  young;  the 
libraries  are  for  persuadable  old.  The  child  is  in  the 
age  of  observation,  acquisition,  and  change;  the  old 
are  in  the  age  of  knowledge,  conviction,  and  creed. 

How  then — and  this  is  the  library's  question 
which  is  alwaj'S  waiting  for  more  fullness  of  answer 
— how  can  the  library  arouse  in  its  people  an  inter- 
est in  the  wide  world?  How  can  it  prove  itself  the 
proper  inheritor  of  the  efficiency  of  the  Athenian 
Gadfly?  How  make  its  supporters  feel  that  this 
world  is  full  of  the  permanent  possibilities  of  pleas- 

137 


LIBRARIES 

lire?  How  make  them  realize  that  though  wisdom 
linger  when  knowledge  comes,  without  knowledge  wis- 
dom will  not  stir  abroad?  How  show  them  that  to  be 
interested  is  to  be  laying  up  knowledge?  that  to  have  a 
many-sided  interest  is  to  have  sympathy  and  willing- 
ness to  co(>perate?  and  that  skill  will  follow?  and 
that  he  who  has  power  and  will  to  cooperate  has 
acquired  a  social  education? 

The  good  book  is  alive.  A  gathering  of  good 
books  is  an  organization  of  the  wise.  Any  library 
may  stand  idle,  but  every  library  has  infinite  capacity 
for  good  work.  The  library  can  hold  its  books  to  the 
simple  task  of  giving  strength,  incentive,  and  guid- 
ance to  the  few  who  spontaneously  seek  them;  just 
as  the  school  can  wait  upon  the  call  of  the  student 
who  comes  and  asks  its  aid.  But  the  library  may 
also  awaken  interest  and  stimulate  inquiry;  just  as 
the  school  summons  the  indifferent  to  its  tasks  by 
making  plain  the  pleasures  and  profits  of  the  knowl- 
edge it  can  give.  But  the  school  can  also  command 
attendance  and  compel  study;  while  the  library  can 
invite  and  attract,  but  no  more. 

It  is  in  the  wide  range  of  its  ])owers,  the  variety 
of  its  profferings,  and  the  number  of  its  constituents 
that  the  library  finds  its  advantages  over  school  and 
college;  and  these  same  advantages  assure  the  success 
of  its  efforts  to  add  to  the  interest  of  life. 

P>ut  first  it  must  make  known  its  powers.  It  is 
under  the  burden  of  misapprehension.  Books  were 
formerly  for  the  bookish  only.  The  bookish  formed 
a  class  apart.  They  were  literary  in  the  old  sense 
of  the  word.  From  those  days  comes  the  feeling  that 
a  public  collection  of  books  is  a  collection  of  literary 
books  useful  chiefly  to  the  professed  student  of  books 
and  to  the  reader  of  hrlJcfi-lrffrr.'^.     In   my  town   a 

138 


HOW  LIBRARIES  PROMOTE  INTEREST 

library  can  openly  follow  its  mission  for  seventeen 
full  years,  and  an  active  man  of  affairs  in  the  town 
can  still  express  surprise  when  he  learns  that  his 
library  will  i^ladly  answer  his  inquiries,  to  the  full  of 
its  abilities,  about  the  price  of  books,  the  choice  of 
books,  or  the  tests  of  wood-block  paving.  The  in- 
stance is  typical.  The  fact  is  told  a  thousand  times 
yet  it  is  still  known  to  but  few,  that  while  the  library 
is  for  students  and  readers  it  is  not  for  them  only, 
but  is  also  for  the  daily  use  of  every  citizen.  Just 
what  this  will  mean  in  the  life  of  our  towns  and 
cities,  Avhen  all  are  awake  to  its  possibilities,  it  is 
impossible  to  say.  I  am  sure  the  librarian  will  then 
look  on  its  figures  of  books  lent  as  even  less  important 
than  he  considers  them  today. 

First,  then,  I  repeat,  the  library  must  make  itself 
known,  and  it  must  make  itself  known,  not  so  much 
as  a  library  in  the  conventional  sense  of  the  word,  as 
an  index,  easy  to  reach  and  easy  to  use,  of  all  the 
facts  of  life,  all  the  best  theories  of  life,  and  all  the 
skilfully  woven  fancies  of  life. 

The  newspapers,  many  of  them  at  least,  under- 
stand the  library  better  than  the  librarian.  They 
note  that  to  its  shelves  come  reports  of  all  that  the 
world  is  doing,  saying,  and  dreaming,  and  they  may 
well  Avonder  that  so  little  comes  from  them.  The 
news  is  a  little  belated  for  morning  scareheads,  it  is 
true;  but  in  fullness,  accuracy,  and  depth  it  excels. 
The  librarian  cannot  retail  this  world-news  through 
the  daily  press;  but  he  can  bring  it  nearer  to  his 
people  than  do  a  few  figures  of  circulation  and  a 
bibliography  of  earthworms.  Tlie  daily  record  of 
the  library's  additions  to  the  possibilities  of  profit, 
pleasure,  and  wisdom  on  its  shelves  should  fill  a 
corner   of   the   paper   and   be   found   of   interest  by 

139 


LIBRARIES 

manj-.  Librarians  will  know  that  I  am  not  speaking 
from  experience.     Rather,  I  am  prophesying. 

The  library  should  be  a  commonplace  to  every  one. 
To  use  it  should  be  as  natural  when  one  needs  news 
or  knowledge,  iiction  or  fact,  as  it  is  to  use  the  trolley 
when  one  needs  transportation. 

The  telephone  is  the  mutual  friend  of  all.  It  is  a 
great  leveler,  and  it  adds  a  million  strong-threads  to 
that  great  social  fabric  which  we  are  all  trying  to 
weave.  It  brings  the  library,  in  a  sense,  to  every 
fireside.  That  its  use  between  the  people  and  their 
books  has  been  so  little  is  another  indication  of  the 
academic  remoteness  of  the  library.  Having  found 
by  telephone  that  the  book,  pamphlet,  journal,  cata- 
log, quotation  or  what  not  is  in  the  library,  the 
inquirer  should  be  able  to  have  it  quickly  brought  to 
him.  Private  enterprise  delivers  its  goods;  a  public 
institution  can  well  imitate  this  example  as  far  as 
means  permit. 

The  newspaper  and  the  telephone  bring  the  library 
into  the  everj-day  world.  The  newspaper — I  am 
repeating  my  prophecy— shows  from  day  to  day  how 
the  library  gathers  the  best  that  is  done  and  thought 
and  said  in  the  world  in  every  field.  The  morning 
paper  says  that  Peary  failed;  the  library  soon  will 
have  in  its  books  the  story  of  the  successes  of  his 
failure.  Santos-Dumont  flies;  Herculaneum  is  to  be 
excavated;  the  English  soap  trust  dissolves;  Japan 
floats  a  ship  of  war; — these  are  the  morning's  notes. 
Later  the  library  offers  the  same,  in  book  or  journal, 
carefully  considered  and  set  in  proper  relations.  Of 
each  of  these  and  ten  thousand  other  things  a  few 
wish  to  know  the  full  truth.  So  far  as  the  lil)rary 
gets  full  and  careful  chronicles  it  should  let  their 
coming  be  known.     To  do  this  requires  scholarship, 

140 


HOW  LIBRARIES  PROMOTE  INTEREST 

of  which  our  libraries  have  not  enough.  But  paren- 
thetically let  me  say  that  they  never  did  have  enough. 
Many  of  the  old  librarians  were  readers,  few  of  them 
were  students.  They  cultivated  the  muses;  but  the 
muses  did  not  respond.  Their  admirers  mistook  a 
cheerful  literary  geniality  for  high  converse  and  apt 
reference  to  the  learned  for  learning  itself. 

Often  it  is  possible  for  the  library,  by  note,  or 
postal,  or  brief  list,  to  send  to  the  one  or  the  few  in 
its  city  that  word  about  book  or  journal  which  is 
just  what  he  needs.  In  time  the  organized  special 
information  work  of  a  public  library  will  be  very 
great.  Many  will  ask  for  what  they  need  when  they 
need  it.  Many  will  ask,  also,  to  be  told  when  that 
which  they  need  comes  to  the  library  shelf.  Private 
enterprises  can  clip  you  the  notes  you  wish  from  a 
thousand  journals  as  they  appear.  Surely  a  public 
institution,  for  a  moderate  fee,  if  need  be,  can  furnish 
notes  of  books  and  articles  on  special  subjects. 

If  you  say  all  this  is  informing  the  library's  con- 
stituents and  not  interesting  them,  then  I  have  not 
made  my  chief  point  plain.  The  library  contains  in- 
formation, more  or  less  full  and  recent  according  to 
its  resources,  on  every  subject  that  every  person  in 
its  city  finds  it  interesting  and  profitable  to  know 
about.  And  if  there  is  any  subject  which  would 
interest  any  of  its  people  did  they  chance  to  hear  of 
it — about  that  subject  also  the  library  has  informa- 
tion. Now,  given  a  storehouse  like  this,  if  it  make 
itself  widely  known  for  what  it  is,  present  interests 
will  be  fed,  new  interests  will  be  aroused. 

I  am  aware  that  these  remarks  smell  more  of 
commerce  than  of  the  lamp.  The  old-fashioned  stu- 
dent, if  he  heard  them,  might  well  ask  where  he  can 
find,  under  the  conditions  I  suggest,  that  old-fash- 

141 


LIBRARIES 

ioiied  library  with  its  penetralia  perfuuied  with 
emanations  from  ancient  volnmes  in  which  the  old- 
fashioned  librarian  pores  over  books  that  are  books 
and  joins  with  in(iuiriii<>-  spirits  in  peaceful  dialog. 
Let  me  say  to  this  that  1  began  with  the  axiom  that 
libraries  are  for  scholars.  Then  let  me  add  that  every 
library,  even  though  the  rumor  get  abroad  that  the 
active  motion  within  it  has  penetrated  the  places 
some  would  wish  reserved  for  the  spirits  of  the  dead 
and  the  meditations  of  quietists — every  library,  I  say, 
no  matter  how  grievously  awake  and  sinfully  modern 
it  may  be,  can  furnish  a  quiet  corner  for  rumination. 
Every  librarian  delights  in  its  readers.  If  to  any 
the  old  books  and  a  place  apart  are  of  the  essence  of 
library  enjoyment,  these  the  librarian  can  provide 
and  will  with  pleasure. 

Then  let  me  add  that  the  disturbance  of  that  fine 
quietude  which  old  folios,  disintegrating  leathers, 
ancient  dust,  and  venerable  readers  typify,  by  change, 
newness  and  restless  use,  is  not  a  new  thing.  Had 
Caesar  perfected  for  Rome  the  great  public  library 
he  planned  it  would  not  have  been  an  abode  simply 
for  the  ancient  browsers  of  the  day — unless  we  are 
quite  mistaken  in  our  Caesar.  When  all  the  libraries 
of  Rome  rejected  Ovid's  books  as  not  lit  for  their 
readers,  the  wits  surely  had  their  joke  about  silly  and 
presumptions  censors  of  morals  and  the  passing  of 
the  good  old  times  when  libraries  let  the  wise  choose 
their  own  reading.  The  latter-day  librarian,  one 
says,  is  too  commercial  and  talks  too  much  of  methods 
of  persuasion  and  conducts  his  place  as  if  readers 
were  not  born,  but  made  by  advertising.  Well,  the 
Ptolemies  ransacked  the  world  for  books  and  then 
that  these  might  not  uselessly  lie  idle  provided  food 
and  lodgings  for  the  readers  they  invited  I     To  this, 

142 


HOW  LIBRARIES  PROMOTE  INTEREST 

with  all  its  inoderiiitj,  the  American  free  public  li- 
brai7  has  not  vet  come.  Lipsius  asked,  three  cen- 
turies ago,  why  gather  books  if  they  are  not  to  be 
freely  used?  Mazarin,  fifty  years  later,  was  proud 
to  open  his  library  to  all  the  world  without  excepting 
a  living  soul.  These,  mind  you,  are  ancient  ideas, 
not  new  ones.  And  it  is  cheering  to  feel  that  the 
librarian  of  to-day  is  awakening  at  last  to  their  full 
import. 

The  library,  then,  should  be  accumulative  of 
books ;  hospitai)le  to  students ;  a  sedative  for  quietists, 
and  provocative  of  interests — and  the  last  is  not  least. 
To  be  stimulating  it  must  be  known,  easily  reached, 
and  by  post  and  telephone  easily  bespoken. 

The  rest  of  my  argument  is  not  so  easily  set  down. 
I  wish  to  touch  in  a  few  words  on  some  of  the  activi- 
ties which,  in  harmony  with  the  thought  that  a 
people's  books  should  broaden  and  multiply  that  peo- 
ple's interest,*  emanate  from  or  find  their  first  move- 
ments within  our  modern  libraries.  Again  I  do  not 
speak  from  experience  or  from  the  history  of  any  one 
library.  I  say  simply  that  things  like  these  are  done 
in  this,  that,  and  the  other  village,  town,  or  city; 
not  all  in  any  one. 

A  lecturer  of  note  is  coming;  a  famous  opera  is 
revived;  the  art  of  printing  is  discussed;  the  river 
front  is  to  be  redeemed ;  the  smoke  nuisance  is  to  be 
abated ;  the  library  sets  forth  in  newspaper  or  special 
list  the  best  and  latest  writings  on  each  and  every 
one  of  these  topics. 

The  town  needs  a  museum  of  art,  of  science,  of 
local  history;  the  library  is  among  the  first  to  note 
the  fact;  by  letters,  lectures,  and  references  to  appro- 
priate books  and  pamphlets  it  brings  the  need  home 
to  the  few  best  fitted  to  consider  their  advantages  and 

143 


LIBRARIES 

opens  a  corner  in  the  library-  to  the  humble  beginnings 
of  one  or  all  of  them. 

Foreigners,  knowing  no  English,  flock  to  the  fac- 
tories. The  library  calls  in  the  children,  and  gives 
them  the  English  books  thej  ask  for ;  through  them  it 
attracts  the  parents;  learns  that  the  latter  wish  to 
read  of  their  new  country  in  their  own  tongue;  finds 
that  there  are  no  books  in  foreign  languages  Avhich 
simply  and  briefly  describe  us  and  our  ways,  and  sets; 
to  Avork  to  have  them  written. 

Posters  about  the  library  go  up  in  railway'  sta- 
tions, trolley  cars,  and  other  public  places. 

Lecture  courses  are  given  in  library  halls  and  at 
them  the  library's  appropriate  books  and  lists  thereof 
are  shown  and  distributed. 

Children  whose  homes  are  without  books,  ideas,  or 
reading  habits  are  taught  the  pleasures  of  literature 
by  wise  story-tellers  and  skilful  readers. 

Branches  are  set  up  here  and  there  in  cities ;  books 
are  sent  by  the  basketful  from  the  village  library  to 
country  cross  roads;  open  cases  full  of  books  are 
put  in  stores;  tin}'  libraries  are  sent  to  homes  in 
remote  corners  of  the  city  and  to  lone  farmhouses 
among  the  hills ;  a  library  agent  tours  a  state,  enlight- 
ens, interests,  instructs,  and  exhorts  by  turns  in  every 
village  and  town — all  to  the  end  that  more  may  find 
pleasure  and  profit  from  books  and  through  them 
multiply  their  interests,  moderate  their  prejudices, 
and  broaden  their  sympathies. 

In  due  course  every  school-room  becomes  a  library, 
every  teacher  a  librarian,  and  every  pupil  is  encour- 
aged to  form  the  habit  of  reading  good  things  and 
collecting  ideas. 

The    library    displays    collections    of    beautiful 

144 


HOW  LIBKARIES  PKOMOTE  INTEREST 

things.  The  sciences  and  the  trades  also  are  shown, 
and  the  library  becomes  now  a  miniature  museum  of 
some  industry,  now  of  some  art. 

The  story  could  go  on  through  many  other  details; 
and  you  may  think  it  strange  that  one  ventures  to 
say  it  is  not  enough.  In  answer  let  me  say  that,  for 
all  our  eighty  million,  we  publish  few  of  the  best 
books,  we  do  not  maintain  properly  a  single  weekly 
or  monthly  journal  of  high  scholarship,  we  are  self- 
centered,  unduly  prejudiced  in  our  judgments,  and 
are  thoughtless  and  clamant  hero-worshippers.  Our 
published  utterances  are  what  Ave  should  expect.  Out 
of  the  conflict  between  them  come  many  sparks  of 
wit,  but  these  rarely  flame  up  into  the  clear  light  of 
sound  learning.  We  need  to  feel  that  others  also 
think,  and  think  with  care  and  with  background  of 
more  learning  than  is  given  to  many  of  our  people  to 
acquire.  In  the  libraries  are  the  books  of  the  wise; 
the  very  souls  of  the  wise.  AYe  are  all  learning  to 
read ;  perhaps  the  library  will  in  time  learn  how  to 
induce  more  to  read  the  best.  If  many  read  the  best, 
interests  will  multiply  and  deepen  and,  if  Herbart 
Avas  not  mistaken,  broader  A'iews  will  be  taken  and 
wiser  councils  will  more  often  prevail. 

Our  Lindsay  Swift  laments  the  day  "when  the  cry 
went  forth  that  the  librarian  must  be  a  business  man 
and  not  a  scholar."  The  edge  of  his  kindly  wit  is 
turned  a  bit  when  we  recall  that  he  is  himself  in  the 
library  business;  and  we  feel  that  so  long  as  libraries 
find  his  like  useful,  scholarship  is  not  forbidden 
among  us !  iVlso  we  may  take  his  humor  Avitli  better 
grace,  if  we  remember  that  while  many  may  refine 
subtly  on  the  violin,  flute,  and  other  tender  instru- 
ments,  for  a  complete  orchestra  one  at  least  must 

145 

10 


LIBRARIES 

beat  the  drum.  And,  once  more,  it  had  been  a  sad 
day  indeed  if  the  cry  had  gone  forth  "that  the 
librarian  must  be  a  scholar  and  not  a  business  man." 

Thron<T,h  all  this  paper  I  have  assumed,  what  li- 
brarians know  quite  Avell,  that  in  a  library's  books 
are  found  all  the  interests  of  life;  I  point  my  story 
once  more  by  saying  that  it  is  one  of  the  library's 
duties  to  make  known  to  its  people  that  this  is  true; 
and  that  in  their  books  are  all  the  thoughts  and  deeds 
and  dreams  of  all  men,  and  that  through  these  their 
books  thej  may  get  tlie  broad  and  wholesome  view 
of  things. 

If  I  speak  too  much  of  the  art  of  making  things 
known  to  others,  of  helping  others  to  find  that 
this  is  an  entrancing  world  of  wonderful  deeds  and 
charming  fancies  and  humorous  contrasts,  and  if  I 
sa}^  too  little  about  our  own  shortcomings,  I  do  not 
regret  it,  for  I  confess  I  am  just  now  beating  the 
drum.  A  sentence  of  Pater's,  which  I  paraphrase, 
ma}'  help  you  to  see  my  point  of  view.  "To  his  pious 
recognition  of  that  one  orderly  spirit — scholarship — 
which  diffuses  itself  through  the  world  and  animates 
it,  the  librarian  adds  a  warm  personal  devotion  to- 
wards the  Avliole  multitude  of  the  old  gods — the  good 
books — and  one  new  one  besides — utility — by  liim  we 
hope  not  ignobly  conceived.'' 


14G 


ANTICIPATIONS,  OR  WHAT  WE  MAY  EXPECT 
IN  LIBRARIES^ 

Public  Libraries,  December,  1907 

The  newspapers  will  more  and  more  usurp  the 
work   of  libraries.     They   will  be  printed  in   larger 
type  and  on  better  paper.     They  will  be  systematic- 
ally arranged,  and  will  have  digests  and  indexes.     In 
their  magazine  departments  they  will  publish  novels, 
essays,  poems,  dramas,  histories  and  biographies  by 
the  best  writers  of  the  day,  as  well  as  the  results  of 
the  cogitations  of  the  best  philosophers,  the  anticipa- 
tions of  the  best  sociologists  and  the  conclusions  of 
the  best   scientists.     Their  illustrations  will   be   su- 
perior to  the  finest  that  books  now  offer.     The  Sun- 
day supplements  whose  pictures  are  to-day  so  scorned 
and   condemned   by   those  who   wish  to   be   thought 
extra  dainty  and  refined,   but  are  really   dull  and 
unimaginative— these    Sunday    supplements    suggest 
what  newspapers  will  soon  furnish  us  in  art  and  illus- 
trations.    Truly,  the  newspapers  will  be  our  educa- 
tional salvation,  for  they  will  enable  us  to  acquire  in 
the  simplest  and  quickest  way,  by  pictures,  at  least  a 
little   of   the   vast   mass   of   information   which   the 
world's  web  of  wires,  reticulation  of  rails  and  fleets 
of  ocean  ferries  will  daily  bring  to  us. 

We  are  just  learning  to  read  newspapers.  When 
all  of  us— not  a  few  only,  but  all  of  us— truly  have 
the  newspaper  habit,  the  demand  will  bring  forth 
sheets  such  as  now  are  not  dreamed  of.  Yellows  to 
the  yellow  minded— and  both  will  be  with  us  for 
many  a  day.  But  the  mechanism  and  brains  and  skill 
are    here    to    produce,    and    the    sufficient    demand 

1  Read  before  the  N.  J.  Library  Association,  Trenton. 

147 


LIBRAKIES 

which  is  sure  to  come  may  any  day  call  forth,  a  daily 
pajjcr  of  clearness,  accuracy',  breadth,  simplicity  and 
beauty  far  beyond  the  wildest  prophecies  of  the  most 
optimistic  editor. 

The  future  of  the  library,  then,  seems  on  first 
thought  to  be  simple  desuetude.  But  not  altogether. 
The  library  will  still  be  useful  as  storehouse,  index 
and  guide.  It  will  gather  and  preserve  the  best  of 
the  world's  books ;  these  it  will  b}^  more  simple  and  so 
more  useful  catalogs  make  more  readily  accessible  to 
students;  and  its  curators  will  become  wiser  guides 
to  the  whole  realm  of  knowledge. 

Books  will  be  more  freely  discarded  than  at  pres- 
ent, leaving  us  thus  a  more  easily  handled  residuum 
of  useful  material.  In  a  few  places  there  will  be 
great  storehouses  where  moribund  books  will  repose 
by  the  millions.  The  ephemeral  character  of  nearly 
all  print  will  be  freely  admitted;  and  books  will  have 
value  in  almost  all  libraries  because  they  are  of  use, 
not  because  some  casual  liistorical  or  anecdotal  prow- 
ler happens  to  wish  to  use  them.  That  is,  it  will 
soon  not  be  held  tliat  a  book  is  useful,  simply  because 
once  last  year  a  man  chanced  to  ask  for  it. 

The  catalog  on  cards  may  stay;  but  the  catalog  in 
I)rint  will  surely  return.  It  is  easy  now  to  imagine 
a  modified  linotype  machine,  casting  title-a-line  book 
lists,  in  a  large-faced  type,  on  long  light  slugs  only 
one-eighth  the  present  needless  height.  Tliese  will  be 
as  easily  handled  and  arranged  as  cards,  can  be  so 
made  as  to  be  set  in  columns,  locked  into  forms  of 
newspaper  size  and  stereotyped  readily — and  tliere 
you  are,  with  a  catalog  printed  like  the  New  York 
Herald,  in  one  page  or  a  liundred;  easily  consulted, 
cheap,  and  as  it  should  be,  ephemeral ;  ephemeral,  of 
course,  for  in  the  anticipated  lil)rary  the  changes  by 

148 


WHAT  TO  EXPECT  IN  LIBRARIES 

discards  and  additions  will  make  any  catalogue  out  of 
date  in  ten  days. 

The  charging  system  will  grow  simpler.  In  the 
small  library  any  method  will  serve;  in  the  larger 
one  time  and  trouble  must  be  saved.  The  borrower's 
card  is  a  burden.  Perhaps  a  numbered  metal  slip 
will  serve  in  its  place;  a  slip  which  the  elect  can 
secure  in  gold  and  wear  as  a  watch  charm.  But 
surely  the  future  library  will  dispense  with  the  card 
for  the  borrower.  Every  city  has  a  directory,  why 
not  use  it?  Would  not  a  number  beside  the  name  of 
each  borrower  nearly  fill  the  needs  of  the  delivery 
desk,  with  a  short  list  arranged  by  numbers  written 
in  another  book. 

This  is  not  the  time  for  details,  for  we  must  pass 
on  to  the  aeroplanes  which  will  leave  the  delivery 
station  on  the  roof  every  fifteen  minutes  and,  dividing 
the  city  into  precincts,  Avill  call  daily  at  the  library 
windows  of  every  house  in  town.  Here  we  see  librari- 
ans assaulting  high  heavens  in  balloons,  having 
purged  the  lower  world  of  slums  with  Home  Libraries 
and  Story  Tellers.  These  aeroplanes  will  supplant 
the  house-to-house  delivery  of  books,  long  an  accom- 
plished fact;  but  will  not  entirely  do  away  with  the 
magnificent  automobile  and  trolley-car  libraries,  com- 
modious, attractive,  carrying  several  thousand  influ- 
ential books  and  a  persuasive  librarian,  now  gliding 
swiftly  through  the  city,  now  pausing  at  a  street 
corner  long  enough  to  exude  a  few  books. 

Also  here  is  the  automatic  delivery  room.  This  is 
the  thing  you  are  looking  for.  The  latest  books,  a 
thousand  titles  more  or  less,  stand  in  cases  that  look 
like  automatic  venders  of  tutti-frutti  chewing  gum, 
except  for  pictures  of  Minerva  on  their  fronts  and 
busts  of  Marion  Crawford  on  their  tops.     In  these, 

149 


LIBRARIES 

marvellously  like  cuds  of  gum  in  their  shape  and  in 
the  cozy  way  they  lie  together,  are  the  books  that 
most  desire.  Each  borrower  has  a  tiny  strip  of 
metal,  not  larger  than  a  Yale  lock  key.  This  he  drops 
into  the  proi)er  place  in  the  stand  which  liolds  the 
books  he  wishes,  presses  a  button,  and,  behold!  his 
book  I — or,  a  nicely  printed  card  saying,  "not  in  at 
l)resent."  An  ingenious  mechanism,  actuated  by  the 
notches  on  the  borrower's  check,  has  meanwhile 
charged  the  book  to  his  number.  A  kindred  labor- 
saving  device  credits  him  with  a  book  returned  when 
he  inserts  his  check  in  the  proper  place  to  open  the 
slot  through  which  he  passes  the  book  he  brought 
back.  When  restaurants  have  automatic  waiters  it 
is  time  for  libraries  to  use  automatic  delivery  rooms. 

Librarians  and  assistants  will,  in  the  future,  take 
time  to  read  a  little;  but  this  is  less  an  anticipation 
than  an  aspiration. 

Inquirers  will  not  expect  libraries  to  fit  them  out 
with  thoughts  any  quicker  than  a  ready-made  cloth- 
ing store  can  fit  them  out  Avith  clothes.  Questions 
of  importance  will  be  answered  by  persons  equal  to 
the  task.  But  many  hundred  carefulh^  selected  in- 
quiries, made  repeatedly  at  all  libraries  and  evidently 
passed  on  by  inheritance  from  parent  to  children, 
always  heretofore  fully  and  courteously  answered  by 
attendants,  will  be  replied  to  by  the  "automatic  Who, 
What,  and  Why  Machine."  On  the  front  of  an  at- 
tractive case  are  several  hundred  push  buttons;  below 
each  button  is  a  little  label,  bearing  a  question ;  all  the 
questions  are  arranged  under  subjects  and  then  sub- 
divided under  the  words.  Who,  What,  Which,  Why, 
etc.  The  inquirer  finds  the  question  he  wishes  to  ask, 
pushes  the  proper  button,  and  at  once  a  card  rises 
above  the  case  bearing  the  complete  and  accurate 

150 


WHAT  TO  EXPECT  IN  LIBRARIES 

answer.  Many  will  come  to  scoff  at  this  machine ;  all 
will  stay  to  use  it. 

Another  more  elaborate  machine  answers  more 
difficult,  delicate  and  even  quite  personal  questions; 
but  is  actuated  only  when  a  penny  is  dropped  in  a 
slot  before  a  button  is  pushed.  This  is  the  famous 
Pay-Collection  of  Complete  Answers  of  which  you 
will  soon  have  heard. 

If  stories  are  told  to  children  they  will  be  told  by 
a  phonograph,  and  the  phonograph  will  be  a  block 
away  from  the  library-.  For  while  the  newspapers 
will  take  much  of  our  work  aw^ay,  enough  will  remain 
within  a  very  manifestly  bookish  field  to  leave  no  time 
to  take  up  the  tasks  of  the  family  fireside  or  the 
kindergarten.  Moreover,  we  can  easily  make  too 
much  of  the  dear  old  stories.  Like  our  patriotism, 
our  religion,  our  ideals,  our  friendships  and  our  loves, 
they  are  not  for  analyzing  and  flaunting,  but  for  quiet 
absorption.  Moreover,  again,  we  are  already  too  much 
subject  to  the  hj'pnotic  influence  of  the  oratorical 
voice.  Let  the  children  practice  asking  questions  in- 
stead of  listening  so  much  to  stories  of  an  age  when 
kindness  in  the  strong  was  thought  a  marvel;  they 
may  then  acquire  the  habit ;  and  when  grown  will  ask 
more  questions  of  their  would-be  oratorical  bam- 
boozlers,  instead  of  applauding  them.  It  is  listening 
that  has  done  the  world  so  much  harm,  not  talking. 

The  newspaper  having  largely  supplanted  the 
library,  naturally  there  will  be  no  occasion  for  the 
library  to  furnish  newspapers.  Reading  rooms  will 
disappear ;  study-rooms  will  take  their  places.  These 
will  be  busy  places  with  none  of  that  somniferous 
Air  of  the  Rest-cure  Establishment  nowadays  much 
complained  of.  The  Fairy  Prince  of  Thoughtfulness 
will    here    be    continually    awakening    the    Sleeping 

151 


LIBRARIES 

Beauties  of  Indolence.  Mind  will  conquer  Matter, 
and  tliongli  many  may  still  dream  in  the  public  library 
none  will  re.sort  to  it  to  knit  up  the  ravelTd  sleave  of 
care. 

But,  if  you  listen  attentively,  you  will  hear  a 
cheerful,  well  modulated  voice  calling  out  the  titles  of 
books  and  dilating  briefly  on  their  contents.  It  ap- 
proaches the  end  of  the  alphabet.  "Weariness  in 
Audiences,''  it  says,  "six  by  nine  inches,  127  pages, 
10-point  Scotch  Roman  type,  well  printed,  neatly 
bound;  pictures  of  audiences  at  ease,  in  commotion, 
asleep,  awake,  and  very  tired.  Popular  Avith  po- 
litical orators;  useful  to  association  Miners.'  Full 
directions  on  'How  to  stop  when  you  have  talked 
enough.'  Examples  from  ancient  history.  Special 
references  to  J.  C.  Dana,  one  time  of  New  Jersey. 
Price  |.50,  very  net." 

That  is  a  library  megaphone  calling  out  to-mor- 
row's additions  to  the  Trenton  Public  Librarv. 


152 


STORY-TELLING  IN  LIBRARIES 

PuhJic  Libraries,  Noiemher,  WOS 

Storv-telliiig  to  groups  of  young  children  is  now 
popular"  among  librarians.  The  art  is  practiced 
chiefly  by  women.  No  doubt  one  reason  for  its  popu- 
larity is  that  it  gives  those  who  practice  it  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  teacher,  the  orator  and  the  exhorter.  It 
must  be  a  delight  to  have  the  opportunity  to  hold  the 
attention  of  a  group  of  children;  to  see  their  eyes 
sparkle  as  the  story  unwinds  itself ;  to  feel  that  you 
are  giving  the  little  people  high  pleasure,  and  at  the 
same  time  are  improving  their  language,  their  morals, 
their  dramatic  sense,  their  power  of  attention  and 
their  knowledge  of  the  world's  literary  masterpieces. 
Also,  it  is  pleasant  to  realize  that  you  are  keeping 
them  off  the  streets;  are  encouraging  them  to  read 
good  books;  are  storing  their  minds  with  charming 
pictures   of   life   and   are   making   friends   for   your 

library. 

In  explaining  its  popularity  I  have  stated  briefly 
the  arguments  usually  given  in  favor  of  library  story- 
telling.    There  is  another  side. 

A  library's  funds  are  never  sufficient  for  all  the 
work  that  lies  before  it.  Consequently,  the  work  a 
library  elects  to  do  is  done  at  the  cost  of  certain 
other  work  it  might  have  done.  The  library  always 
puts  its  funds,  skill  and  energy  upon  those  things 
which  it  thinks  are  most  important,  that  is,  are  most 
effective  in  the  long  run,  in  educating  the  community. 
Now,  the  schools  tell  stories  to  children,  and  it  is 
obviously  one  of  their  proper  functions  so  to  do  at 
such  times,  to  such  an  extent  and  to  such  children 
as  the  persons  in  charge  of  the  schools  think  wise. 

153 


LIBKARIES 

It  is  probable  that  the  schoolmen  know  better  when 
and  how  to  include  story-telling  in  their  work  with  a 
given  group  of  children  than  do  the  librarians.  If 
a  library  thinks  it  knoAVS  about  this  subject  more 
than  do  the  scliools,  should  it  spend  time  and  mone}'' 
much  needed  for  other  things  in  trying  to  take  up 
and  carry  on  the  schools'  work?  It  would  seem  not. 
Indeed,  the  occasional  story-telling  which  the  one 
library  of  a  town  or  city  can  furnish  is  so  slight  a 
factor  in  the  educational  work  of  that  town  or  city 
as  to  make  the  library's  pride  over  its  work  seem 
very  ludicrous. 

If,  now,  the  library  by  chance  has  on  its  staff  a 
few  altruistic,  emotional,  dramatic  and  irrepressible 
child-lovers  who  do  not  find  ordinary  library  work 
gives  sufficient  opportunities  for  altruistic  indul- 
gence, and  if  the  librarj^  can  spare  them  from  other 
work,  let  it  set  them  at  teaching  the  teachers  the 
art  of  story-telling. 

Contrast,  as  to  cost  and  results,  the  usual  story- 
telling to  children  with  instruction  in  the  same  and 
allied  arts  to  teachers.  The  assistant  entertains  once 
or  twice  each  week  a  group  of  forty  or  fifty  children. 
The  children — accustomed  to  schoolroom  routine, 
hypnotized  somewhat  by  the  mob-spirit  and  a  little 
by  the  place  and  occasion,  ready  to  imitate  on  every 
opportunity — listen  with  fair  attention.  They  are 
perhaps  pleased  with  the  subject  matter  of  the  tale, 
possibly  by  its  wording,  and  very  probably  by  the 
voice  and  presence  of  the  narrator.  They  hear  an  old 
story,  one  of  the  many  that  help  to  form  the  social 
cement  of  the  nation  in  which  they  live.  This  is  of 
some  slight  value,  though  the  story  is  only  one  of 
scores  which  they  hear  or  read  in  their  early  years 
at  scliool.     The  story  has  no  special  dramatic  power 

154 


STORY-TELLING  IN  LIBRARIES 

in  its  sequence.  As  a  story  it  is  of  value  almost 
soleh^  because  it  is  old.  It  has  no  special  value  in 
its  phrasing.  It  may  have  been  put  into  artistic 
form  by  some  man  of  letters ;  but  the  children  get  it, 
not  in  that  form,  but  as  retold  by  an  inspired  library 
assistant  who  has  made  no  mark  in  the  world  of 
letters  by  her  manner  of  expression.  The  story  has 
no  moral  save  as  it  is  dragged  in  by  main  strength ; 
usually,  in  fact,  and  especially  in  the  case  of  myths, 
the  moral  tone  needs  apologies  much  more  than  it 
needs  praise. 

To  prepare  for  this  half  hour  of  the  relatively 
trivial  instruction  of  a  few  children  in  the  higher  life, 
the  library  must  secure  a  room  and  pay  for  its  care, 
a  room  which  if  it  be  obtained  and  used  at  all  could 
be  used  for  more  profitable  purposes;  and  the  per- 
former must  study  her  art  and  must,  if  she  is  not  a 
conceited  duffer,  prepare  herself  for  her  part  for  the 
day  at  a  very  considerable  cost  of  time  and  energy. 

Now,  if  the  teachers  do  not  know  the  value  of 
story-telling  at  proper  times  and  to  children  of  proper 
years ;  if  they  do  not  realize  the  strength  of  the  influ- 
ences for  good  that  lies  in  the  speaking  voice — though 
that  this  influence  i^  relatively  over-rated  in  these 
days  I  am  at  a  proper  time  prepared  to  show — if  they 
do  not  know  about  the  interest  children  take  in  leg- 
ends, myths  and  fairy  tales,  and  their  value  in 
strengthening  the  social  bond,  then  let  the  library 
assistants  who  do  know  about  such  things  hasten  to 
tell  them.  I  am  assuming  for  purposes  of  argument 
that  the  teachers  do  not  know,  and  that  library  assist- 
ants can  tell  them.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  say  how 
the  library  people  will  approach  the  teacher  with 
their  information  without  offending  them,  except  to 
remark  that  tactful  lines  of  approach  can  be  found; 

155 


LIBRAKIES 

and  to  remark,  further,  that  by  settiug  up  a  story- 
honr  in  her  library  a  librarian  does  not  very  tactfully 
c'onve}'  to  the  teachers  the  intimation  that  they  either 
do  not  knoAv  their  work  or  willfully  neglect  it. 

With  this  same  labor  of  preparation,  in  the  room 
used  for  a  thirty-minute  talk  to  a  handful  of  children, 
the  librarian  could  far  better  address  a  group  of 
teachers  on  the  use  of  books  in  libraries  and  school- 
rooms. Librarians  have  long  contended  that  teach- 
ers are  deficient  in  bookish  ness;  and  it  is  quite 
possible  that  they  are.  Their  preparation  in  normal 
schools  compels  them  to  give  more  attention  to 
method  than  to  subject  matter.  They  have  lacked 
incentive  and  opportunity  to  become  familiar  with 
books,  outside  of  the  prescribed  text-books  and  supple- 
mentary readers.  They  do  not  know  the  literature  of 
and  for  childhood,  and  not  having  learned  to  use 
books  in  general  for  delight  and  utility  themselves 
they  cannot  impart  the  art  to  their  pupils.  As  I 
have  said,  librarians  contend  that  this  is  true,  3'et 
many  of  them  with  opportunities  to  instruct  teachers 
in  these  matters  lying  unused  before  them,  neglect 
them  and  coolly  step  in  to  usurp  one  of  the  school s 
functions  and  rebuke  the  teacher's  shortcomings. 

This  is  not  all.  A  library  gives  of  its  time,  money 
and  energy  to  instruct  forty  children — and  there  it 
ends.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  instructs  forty  teach- 
ers, those  forty  currj  the  instruction  to  forty  class 
rooms  and  impart  knowledge  of  the  library,  of  the 
nse  of  books,  of  the  literature  for  children  and — if 
need  be— of  the  art  of  story-telling,  to  1,000  or  2,000 
children.  There  seems  no  question  here  as  to  which 
of  these  two  forms  of  educational  activity  is  for 
librarians  better  worth  while. 


156 


WHAT  THE  MODERN  LIBKAKY   IS  DOING. 

Independent,  Januanj  26,  1911 

Moderu  library  methods  began  with  the  meeting  of 
a  few  librarians  at  the  Centennial  Exhibition  in 
Philadelphia  in  1S7G.  These  librarians  formed  an 
association  and  began  the  publication  of  a  profes- 
sional journal.  Since  that  time  the  development  of 
libraries,  both  public  and  collegiate,  has  in  this  coun- 
try been  perhaps  more  rapid  than  the  development  of 
any  other  public  educational  institution.  The  bene- 
factions of  philanthropists  have  had  something  to  do 
with  this  rapidity  of  development.  But  before  the 
habit  of  giving  libraries  had  been  taken  up  by  the 
Yerj  rich,  the  movement  toward  the  establishment  and 
improvement  of  these  institutions  in  our  villages, 
towns  and  cities  was  well  under  way. 

When  librarians  began  to  take  an  active  interest 
in  the  improvement  of  their  calling  thirty  years  ago, 
they  naturally  first  turned  their  attention  to  the  tech- 
nique of  administration.  This  was  the  era  of  book- 
shelf, book-storage,  catalog,  classification,  accession 
book,  shelf-list,  and  of  all  the  many  other  improve- 
ments in  keeping,  handling  and  indexing  books. 

Then  came  the  era  of  library  buildings,  partly  due, 
as  suggested  already,  to  the  benefactions  of  the  un- 
duly rich;  an  era  of  the  development  of  some  bane- 
ful tendencies,  from  which  libraries  have  not  yet 
recovered,  and  will  not  for  many  years.  Trustees  of 
town  and  city  libraries  and  trustees  of  colleges  and 
universities  were  for  a  time  overcome,  and  many  of 
them  are  still  overcome,  with  the  desire  to  erect 
monuments  of  their  own  day  of  brief  authority,  and 
architects  were  ready  to  take  advantage  of  human 

157 


LIBRARIES 

Nveakness  in  this  direction.  Nine  out  of  ten  of  the 
college  and  town  and  city  library  buildings  in  this 
country,  built  within  the  past  twenty  years,  are  too 
small,  or  improperl}^  arranged,  or  hideously  ugly,  or 
all  three;  and  this  although  in  almost  every  case  a 
proper  building  could  have  been  erected  for  the  money 
lavished  on  an  inadequate  structure,  or  a  very 
monstrosity. 

Next  came  an  era  of  publicity.  The  movement  in 
this  direction  has  not  jet  been  carried  as  far  as  it 
might  well  be.  In  a  few  communities  it  is  now  well 
understood  that  a  proper  part  of  the  library's  work 
is  to  make  itself  full}"  known  to  its  constituents  and 
possible  users;  but  it  is  not  yet  realized  by  either 
public  or  college  libraries  that  the  public's  expensive 
organizations  which  collect,  store  and  lend  books 
should  also  give  unprejudiced  information  about 
them,  and  this  as  freely  as  publisher  and  bookseller 
give  prejudiced  advertising. 

About  ten  years  ago  work  with  children  was 
actively  begun.  Up  to  thirty  years  ago  libraries  were 
almost  universally  closed  to  children.  As  the  mod- 
ern movement  gained  headway  it  was  realized  that  a 
community's  collection  of  books  is  an  edueatioual  tool 
which  the  librarian  should  administer  for  the  greatest 
benefit  of  that  community.  When  a  librarian  with 
this  thouglit  in  mind  was  asked  if  children  could  bor- 
row his  library's  books,  only  one  answer  was  possible : 
that  the  use  of  a  library  is  limited  only  by  the  num- 
ber of  books  it  contains  and  by  the  ability  of  the 
library  staff  to  serve  those  who  may  call  for  them. 
The  barriers  to  the  admission  of  children  to  a  library 
and  to  their  use  of  its  books  were  rapidly  broken 
down.  The  age  limit  was  dropped  here  and  there 
from  eighteen  to  twelve,  then  from  twelve  to  ten,  then 
to  eight,  and  soon  disappeared  altogether, 

158 


WHAT  THE  LIBRAEY  IS  DOING 

As  soon  as  children  began  to  come  with  freedom 
to  public  libraries  librarians  discovered  that  they  did 
not  have  a  sufficient  supply  of  books  suited  to  chil- 
dren's capacities.  At  about  this  same  period  a 
change  took  place  in  the  materials  used  in  teaching 
reading  in  the  public  schools.  Before  this  change, 
the  opinion  seems  to  have  been  held  by  school  people 
that  any  material  was  good  enough  on  which  to  prac- 
tice reading.  The  protest  which  arose  against  this 
opinion  resulted  in  the  publication  of  a  great  many 
volumes  of  classic  books,  prei)ared  especially  for  chil- 
dren's use.  Eeading  in  the  schools  came  to  be  con- 
fined chiefly  to  works  of  writers  of  acknowledged 
merit.  Pupils  read,  not  from  the  old-fashioned, 
scrappy,  graded  readers,  but  from  books  called  "sup- 
plementary," published  especially  for  their  edifica- 
tion. This  movement  resulted  in  placing  on  the  mar- 
ket many  hundred  different  books  prepared  for  chil- 
dren, most  of  them  being  complete  wholes  from  Eng- 
lish and  American  literature,  others  being  careful 
adaptations  of  classics  and  old  myths  and  stories 
skilfully  retold.  This  change  in  reading  material 
was  the  beginning  of  an  age  of  children's  reading, 
in  the  schools  as  well  as  in  public  libraries. 

Libraries  bought  these  books  for  the  young  with 
eagerness  and  made  them  accessible  to  children  of  all 
classes.  They  soon  discovered  that  if  a  library  were 
made  attractive  to  children  and  had  on  its  shelves 
books  within  the  range  of  their  comprehension  and 
reading  power,  these  books  would  be  eagerly  taken 
and  read,  even  though  they  did  not  include  the  writ- 
ings of  authors  who  had  been  vastly  popular  for 
several  decades.  To  put  it  more  plainly,  the  boy  of 
twenty-five  years  ago  wished  stories  by  Castlemon, 
Optic  and  others  of  that  class;  but,  if  an  inviting 
open-shelf  library  had  on  its  shelves  none  of  these, 

159 


LIBRARIES 

and  did  have  books  of  greater  literar}-  meiit,  boys 
would  take  the  latter,  read  them  with  interest  and 
pleasure,  and  soon  would  not  miss  their  old  favorites. 
In  a  word,  again,  libraries  discovered  that  it  was 
not  difficult  to  improve,  to  a  considerable  degree,  the 
reading  taste  of  children  in  tiieir  respective  com- 
munities, by  the  simple  process  of  offering  only  the 
better  books. 

Children  began  to  come  to  libraries  in  large  num- 
bers; in  numbers  too  large  in  many  cases  for  the 
single  room  the  library  could  spare  for  their  use. 
They  not  only  overcrowded  their  special  room,  but 
their  number  made  it  impossible  for  librarian  and 
assistants  to  give  them  that  attention  in  the  way  of 
careful  suggestion  and  specific  guidance  which  they 
greatly  needed. 

Much  was  being  said  at  this  time  of  the  impor- 
tance of  teaching  children  not  simph'  how  to  read, 
but  also  what  to  read.  More  was  made,  perhaps,  of 
this  guidance  of  children  in  their  reading  than  the 
matter  deserves;  or,  rather,  ability  to  read  under- 
standingly  on  any  general  subject  has  been  found  to 
be  so  important  and  so  rare  an  acquisition  as  to  put 
the  selection  of  things  to  be  read  in  a  subordinate 
place. 

But  whether  there  were  any  call  for  careful  guid- 
ance or  not,  the  libraries  soon  realized  that  in  their 
single  children's  room  or  corner  they  could  not  ac- 
commodate the  crowds  which  came.  The  libraries 
of  large  towns  and  cities  soon  realized,  also,  the  far 
more  important  fact  that  the  crowd  of  young  people 
which  visited  the  main  library  was  only  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  children  of  the  Avhole  community,  all  of 
whom  were  equally  entitled  to  share  in  the  use  of  the 
l)ultlic's  storehouse  of  books. 

160 


WHAT  THE  LIBRARY  IS  DOING 

The  principle  that  a  public  library  is  for  all  the 
people,  and  not  for  the  men  of  letters  and  the  special 
stndent  onh',  had  by  this  time  led  to  the  establish- 
ment of  branches.  The  branch  idea  became  very 
popular,  in  some  respects  unduly  so.  It  was  the  fash- 
ion, and  the  fashion  has  not  yet  quite  passed,  to  ask 
a  public  benefactor  for  funds  with  which  were  built 
ornate  and  expensive  structures  to  serve  as  brancli 
libraries;  structures  often  not  well  adapted  to  their 
purpose  and  absurdly  expensive  to  maintain. 

In  these  branches  full  half  of  the  space  available 
for  readers  Avas  commonly  given  up  to  children. 
Children's  departments  in  large  city  libraries  thus 
became  largely  expanded,  and  by  subdivision  were 
made  to  cover,  in  a  measure,  the  whole  city. 

The  art  of  lending  books  to  children  now  became 
exalted  into  a  specialty.  Children's  librarians  were 
in  great  demand  and  a  school  was  established  to  train 
them  for  their  work. 

At  this  point  the  librarians,  properly  enamored  of 
their  work,  but  blinded  a  little  by  their  enthusiasm, 
seemed  unable  to  see  the  limits  to  their  field,  or  to 
see  the  field  itself  in  its  proper  relation  to  other  edu- 
cational fields.  They  found  they  were  popular  with 
all  children  and  were  applauded  by  parents.  They 
knew  that  reading  is  an  art  approved  by  most  and 
that  the  reading  of  good  books  is  approved  by  all. 
They  had  books  under  their  control;  they  were  sure 
they  could  select  good  ones  for  children,  and  they 
found  the  task  of  ministering  to  children's  wishes  a 
delightful  one.  Naturally,  they  hastened  to  increase 
the  opportunities  for  this  ministration.  They  at- 
tracted children  to  their  special  rooms  in  main 
libraries  and  branches  by  prizes,  by  games,  by  pic- 
tures, by  museum  specimens  and  by  other  devices. 

161 
11 


LIBRARIES 

They  talked  to  the  children,  and  ni(jtliered  them,  and 
read  to  them,  and  told  stories  to  them.  The  art  of 
being  a  librarian  for  children  gained  in  importance, 
and,  to  the  initiated,  daily  grew  more  recondite  and 
more  wonderful.  Concerning  it  there  developed  the 
same  group  of  words  and  phrases  which  accompany 
the  groAxth  in  popularity  of  every  new  cult.  The 
reports  of  meetings  of  children's  librarians  of  this 
period,  which  is  j\ist  coming  to  an  end,  have  a  very 
perceptible  atmosphere  of  religious  devotion,  almost 
of  fanaticism. 

Especially  strong  was  the  story-telling  hypnosis  in 
this  stage.  It  was  found  that  children  will  listen  to 
stories,  and  that  if  the  stories  come  from  books  which 
are  in  the  library  the  children,  after  listening  to  the 
stories,  hasten  to  borrow  the  books.  Here  was  a 
pleasant  method  of  increasing  the  circulation  and  of 
guiding  children  in  their  reading.  The  discovery 
aroused  much  enthusiasm.  Hundreds  of  young 
women  studied  the  elements  of  dramatic  art  and  [prac- 
tised on  groups  of  children  in  children's  rooms  in 
libraries,  that  they  might  lead  them  to  read  more 
books  and  better  ones. 

This  seemed  to  be  worthy  work;  but  it  was  dis- 
covered to  be  somewhat  out  of  place.  Story-telling 
has  long  been  practised  in  the  kindergarten  as  i)art 
of  a  well  defined  system.  It  belongs  also  to  some 
extent  in  the  first  grades  of  the  schools.  To  practise 
it  in  the  library  calls  for  a  diversion  of  skill  and 
energy  from  a  field  where  skill  and  energy  are  always 
insufficient. 

While  this  development  of  children's  rooms  in 
libraries  and  branches,  with  an  accompanying  devel- 
oi)ment  of  library  motherhood  in  the  assistants,  was 
going   on,   the   use   of   jjooks   by   children   had   been 

1G2 


WHAT  THE  Lir»RAKY  IS  DOING 

greatly  encouraged  by  another  method.  It  was 
found  that,  even  with  its  branches,  no  library  can 
come  into  close  touch  with  more  than  a  small  per 
cent  of  all  the  children  of  the  community.  A  library 
in  a  city  of  300,000,  for  example,  with  ten  distinct 
centers  or  branches,  cannot  get  close  to  more  than 
10,000  to  20,000  of  the  60,000  young  people  in  that 
city.  It  was  found,  also,  that  no  matter  how  skilled 
and  enthusiastic  might  be  the  fifteen  or  twenty  assist- 
ants in  all  the  children's  rooms  of  the  city,  their 
influence  could  reach  a  few  individuals  only. 

The  libraries'  natural  allies  were  obviously  the 
teachers,  and  to  them  they  turned.  It  would  be  more 
appropriate  to  say,  if  it  could  be  said  with  truth,  that 
the  teachers  turned  to  the  libraries  for  assistance. 
But  the  fact  is  that  efforts  for  cooperation  between 
teachers  of  the  art  of  reading  and  keepers  of  sup- 
plies of  reading  have  come  almost  entirely  from  the 

latter. 

Cooperation  is  effected  chiefly  in  this  way:  The 
libraries  lend  to  individual  teachers  small  collections 
of  books  for  use  in  their  classrooms.  These  collec- 
tions are  selected  by  the  teachers  themselves,  or  se- 
lected bv  libraries  for  them,  as  the  former  may  prefer. 
They  include  books  adapted  to  the  age  and  the  studies 
of  tiie  children  in  the  rooms  to  which  they  are  sent. 
The  teachers  use  them  as  they  see  fit,  with  no  restric- 
tions and  with  no  financial  responsibility.  They  may 
read  to  the  class  from  them;  they  may  permit  the 
children  to  read  from  them  in  the  room;  they  may 
lend  them  for  home  use ;  they  may  use  them  chiefly  as 
a  reference  collection,  to  supplement  the  work  done 
in  the  room;  and  they  may  change  them  as  many 
times  in  a  year,  wholly  or  in  part,  as  they  may  choose. 
This    seems    an   ideal    arrangement.     It    puts   a 

163 


LIBRAKIES 

town's  or  a  city's  collection  of  books  at  the  command 
of  the  city's  paid  experts  in  education  in  the  most 
complete  way.  It  makes  of  every  schoolroom  a 
branch  library,  at  no  additional  expense  for  space  or 
service.  It  interests  everj'  teacher  in  the  resources 
of  the  main  library — at  least  it  should  do  so.  It  puts 
a  small  library  directly  under  the  hand  of  every  child 
in  the  city,  and  thereby  tells  him  jdaiuly  of  the  large 
main  library  which  is  at  his  service.  And,  finally,  it 
gives  him  in  his  reading  the  enthusiasm  and  guiding 
skill  of  one,  his  teacher,  who  should  most  care  to 
persuade  him  to  read  and  should  have  most  skill  in 
telling  him  what  to  read. 

This  method  of  sowing  a  library  broadcast  in  the 
community  is  now  practised  in  many  towns  and 
cities.  It  is  as  effective  in  a  community  scattered 
thinly  on  farms  over  the  hills  of  Vermont,  with  its 
half  dozen  little  isolated  red  schoolhouses,  as  it  is  in 
a  huge  school  building  with  a  score  of  rooms  and  a 
thousand  pupils  in  a  great  city.  Plainly  this  is  a 
most  effective  and  most  economical  way  of  bringing 
the  people's  books  to  the  people's  doors.  It  can  be 
improved  by  extending  the  custom,  already  somewhat 
practiced,  of  making  the  collections  larger,  including 
in  them  books  for  adults  and  inducing  teachers  and 
pupils  to  work  together  in  putting  these  books  in  the 
hands  of  the  pupils'  parents.  The  method  can  be 
supplemented  by  opening  a  room  with  a  separate  out- 
side entrance,  on  the  ground  floor  of  each  large  city 
school  building,  as  a  general  branch  library  for  all 
who  live  near  the  building,  and  as  a  special  reference 
library  for  the  pupils  in  the  buiding.  This  is  on  the 
I)oint  of  being  done  in  several  cities. 

But,  effective  as  this  classroom,  branch-library 
method  of  book  dissemination  promises  to  be,  it  falls 

164 


WHAT  THE  LIBRARY  IS  DOING 

short  in  accomplishment ;  and  its  ineiificiency  mnst  be 
laid  at  the  door  of  our  colleges  and  universities.  Let 
me  briefly  explain  this  charge. 

In  our  educational  system  stimulus  and  guidairce 
come  from  the  top.  A  city  which  has  a  properly 
equipped  and  efficient  high  school  system  is  sure  to 
find  its  primary  and  elementary  schools  well  and 
enthusiastically  conducted.  A  state  which  has  a  pro- 
gressive university  crowning  its  educational  system 
finds  that  every  high  school  within  its  borders  is  eager 
for  recognition  of  its  merits  and  zealous  to  have  in 
fact  the  merits  which  it  claims.  As  in  efficiency  and 
enthusiasm,  so  in  subject  and  method,  the  highest 
educational  institutions  rule  all  below  them. 

Now,  the  colleges  and  universities  of  this  country 
make  of  relatively  small  importance  the  arts  of  read- 
ing and   of  the   use   of  books.     Their   libraries   are 
almost  without  exception  poorly  housed.     In  none  is 
there  given  to  all  pupils  instruction  worthy  the  name 
in  the  art  of  using  a  library.     The  students  who  come 
to  them  have  not  had  persistent  practice  and  definite 
instruction   in   the  art  of  reading,   in   skill   and   in 
understanding   printed    words,    in    acquisition    of    a 
large  reading  vocabulary,  for  four  or  five  years  pre- 
vious to  their  entering  college.     The  importance,  the 
fundamental  and  all-embracing  importance,  of  knowl- 
edge of  the  English  language  as  the  vehicle  of  thought, 
as^'the  foundation  of  all  learning ;  the  absolute  neces- 
sity, would  one  become  even  passing  wise,  of  being 
able  to  read  good  books  quickly  and  understandingly 
—these  things  are  not  continually  insisted  upon ;  in- 
deed, they  are  quite  neglected.     The  colleges  have 
lamented  much  that  their  students  cannot  write.     It 
would  be  well  if  they  concerned  themselves  first  over 
the  fact  that  their  students  cannot  read. 

165 


LIBRARIES 

The  result  of  this  neglect  is  that  few  college 
grad\iates  know  how  to  read.  Thej^  never  have  been 
compelled  to  practice  reading,  and  onlj'  by  a  pro- 
digious amount  of  practice  can  any  save  the  gifted 
ones  ever  learn  to  read.  Also,  they  do  not  know  how 
to  use  books.  Also,  they  do  not  think  that  high  skill 
in  reading  and  in  the  art  of  using  books  and  a  library 
is  the  one  thing  of  supreme  importance  in  education. 

The  graduates  of  our  colleges  become  teachers  in 
high  and  normal  schools.  Their  indifference  to  the 
reading  art  marks  the  work  of  these  institutions. 
The  result  is  that  the  teachers  in  our  public  schools, 
graduates  of  our  high  and  normal  schools,  have  not 
been  made  to  read  much;  have  not  learned  to  read 
well;  read  very  little  during  their  years  of  teaching; 
know  little  about  the  literature  of  and  for  children ; 
think  that  it  is  not  of  great  importance  that  all  chil- 
dren, by  constant  reading,  acquire  a  large  reading 
vocabulary  and  gain  a  firm  hold  of  the  tool  by  the  use 
of  which  alone  thought  is  possible;  are  indifferent  to 
books  and  print ;  and  finally,  do  not  handle  efficiently 
the  collections  they  may  have  in  their  classrooms 
from  a  public  library,  and  in  many  cases  are  not 
willing  to  have  such  collections. 

Reading  is  the  most  important  of  all  the  arts.  It 
is  taught  now  chiefly  through  the  ministrations  of 
the  yellow  journals.  The  foundations  of  its  pro]^er 
teaching  with  ])roper  and  helpful  material  should  be 
laid  more  broadly  and  more  carefully  in  our  colleges 
mid  universities. 


IOC 


THE  COUNTKY  CUl'liCII   AND  THE  LIBRARY 

Outlook,  May  G,  Id  11 

One  of  the  chief  reasons  for  the  existence  of  the 
country  church  is  that  it  promotes  the  happiness  and 
efficiency — that  is,  the  general  welfare  and  the  edu- 
cation and  the  social  harinon^^— of  the  community. 
It  should  along  this  line,  take  up  the  work  of  the 
public  library.  Also,  it  should  be  the  village  improve- 
ment society,  the  federation  of  all  study  clubs  for  old 
and  young,  the  grange,  the  historical  museum  and  the 
museum  of  science  and  art,  the  chief  advocate  of  the 
schools,  the  social  center,  and  many  other  things.  If 
it  is  not  the  head,  heart,  and  center  of  all  these  things, 
it  can  at  least  be  the  prime  mover  in  them  and 
their  right  hand. 

But,  unfortunately  for  its  efficiency  in  promoting 
general  temporal  welfare  and  spiritual  well-being,  it 
often  puts  too  much  in  the  foreground  the  restraints 
which  religion  imposes  instead  of  the  beneficent 
activities  which  it  can  set  free. 

By  a  happy  circumstance  the  public  library  is  an 
institution  between  which  and  the  church  there  can 
be  no  antagonism.  The  library  does  not  conflict  with 
any  doctrine.  It  does  not  interfere  with  the  carry- 
ing out  of  any  ceremonies,  it  does  not  represent  and 
is  not  maintained  by  any  group  of  people  which  might 
set  it  up  against  any  church.  It  belongs  to  all  mem- 
bers of  all  churches,  and  encourages  in  all  that  broad- 
ening of  sympathies  for  which  each  and  every  church 
is  proud  to  be  thought  also  to  stand. 

The  country  church,  if  there  is  but  one,  can  prop- 
erly give  the  library  a  room.  If  this  is  impossible 
because  there  are  rival  churches,  or  because  the  one 

107 


LIBRARIES 

cbnreb  is  not  approved  by  all  of  its  neiglil)ors,  tlien 
it  can  make  use  of  tbe  library  in  a  broad  and  belpful 
way. 

Tbe  minister  sbonld  mention  it  every  Sunday  in 
tbe  jear.  If  new  books  bave  come  in  during  tbe 
week,  let  bim  take  tbem.as  a  text  for  a  five-minute 
talk.  If  tbere  are  no  new  books,  let  bim  mention 
tbree  or  four  notewortby  articles  in  tbe  magazines, 
or  some  of  tbe  older  books,  or  a  state  or  county  pub- 
lication just  received  and  of  practical  value  to  bis 
congregation,  or  a  document  from  tbe  United  States 
government  on  forestry  or  birds  or  on  some  topic  in 
agriculture  locally  interesting. 

If  tbe  minister  cannot  always  do  tbis,  let  tbe  li- 
brarian do  it,  or  any  one  of  the  readers  or  students, 
old  or  young,  in  tbe  community. 

Tbe  cburcb  sbould  not  try  to  maintain  a  lil)rary 
of  its  own,  but  sbould  contribute  to  tbe  public  library, 
and  tbrougb  its  contributions  sbould  bave  tbe  riglit 
to  display  every  Sunday  in  its  main  meeting-room  a 
few  good  books  for  old  and  young.  To  tbese  some 
one  sbould  allude  during  tbe  service  every  Sunday, 
and  tben  tbose  Avbo  wisbed  could  look  tbem  over  and 
take  borne  wbat  tbey  selected. 

If  tbere  is  no  library,  tbe  cburcb  sbould  establisb 
one,  or  see  to  it  tbat  one  is  establisbed.  How  to  do 
tbis  tbere  are  many  wbo  are  able  and  willing  to  tell. 

If  tbe  one  cburcb,  or  tbe  several  cburcbes,  of  tbe 
community  make  it  known  tbat  a  public  library  is  to 
be  set  up  in  tbe  town,  or  if  tbey  make  it  known  tbat 
tbe  library  already  establisbed  is  to  be  warmly  sup- 
ported and  freely  used  by  tbe  cburcbes,  tbe  progress 
of  tbe  scbeme  cannot  well  be  slow.  Friends,  publisb- 
ers,  magazine  editors,  secretaries  of  societies  for  tbe 
promotion  of  education  in  agriculture,  forestry,  art, 

168 


COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  THE  LIBRARY 

village  improvement,  and  many  other  topics  will  send 
in  pnblieations. 

If  clinrches  and  the  library  nnite,  the  efficiency 
of  both  will  be  greatly  increased.  In  any  specific 
community,  if  the  exact  social,  religious,  and  educa- 
tional conditions  are  known,  it  should  be  easy  to  give 
specific  suggestions  along  certain  lines  of  work;  and 
though  the  remarks  above  are  quite  general,  I  am 
sure  that  if  they  meet  with  approval  in  any  country 
community  the  people  of  the  church  in  that  com- 
munity will  have  no  difficulty  in  carrying  out  certain 
definite  and  helpful  x)lans. 

As  every  one  knows,  the  country  church  is  now  the 
social  center  of  its  own  members,  the  point  about 
which  many  interests  gather  already.  If  to  those 
interests  there  is  added  the  work  which  can  be  done 
for  and  by  and  through  the  books,  periodicals,  pic- 
tures, and  the  librarian  of  a  public  library,  then  the 
church's  work  will  be  much  broader  and  more  helpful 
still.  Moreover,  through  its  work  with  and  for  a 
public  library,  which  grows  out  of  and  belongs  to  the 
whole  community  more  fully  than  does  any  church, 
the  church  will  broaden  in  the  best  way  its  own 
interests  and  its  own  feelings  and  its  own  powers. 


169 


WOMEN  IN  LIBRARY  WORK 

Independent,  August  3,  1911    . 

Of  all  occupations  now  open  to  women,  work  in  a 
public  library  is  perhaps  the  most  attractive.  This 
is  not  because  the  money  return  is  large,  for  in  this 
respect  both  teaching  and  clerical  work  have  the  ad- 
vantage. Library  work  is  attractive  because  it  gives 
one  pleasant  surroundings,  brings  one  into  contact 
with  intelligent  people,  helps  one  to  keep  abreast  of 
the  times,  is  not  often  unduly  severe  or  trying  to  the 
nerves,  and  offers  openings  for  many  kinds  of  native 
talent  to  show  themselves  at  their  best. 

A  public  library  is  the  property  of  the  people  who 
use  it.  The  librarian  recognizes  this  fact  and  tries 
to  make  this  school  of  the  people  as  attractive  and  as 
pleasing  as  possible.  If  a  public  institution  is  to  be 
inviting  and  helpful,  those  who  work  in  it  and  for  it 
must  l)e  interested  in  it,  must  wish  it  to  gain  in  popu- 
larity and  must  be  proud  of  its  good  repute.  Now, 
a  library's  staff  cannot  have  for  it  the  feelings  just 
mentioned  unless  they  themselves  find  in  it  and  in 
their  work  for  it  a  certain  pleasure,  and  enjoy  in  it  a 
certain  good  fellowship  with  one  another.  As  they 
are  to  one  another,  so,  in  large  measure,  will  they 
appear  to  those  Avho  call  at  the  library  for  books  or 
for  opportunities  for  reading  and  study.  Within  a 
library,  therefore,  must  be  found  tlie  free  cooperative 
spirit  of  the  home.  The  presence  in  a  library  of  this 
feeling  of  good  will  and  helpfulness  is  alone  almost 
enough  to  explain  its  popularity  as  a  place  in  wliich 
to  earn  one's  living;  and  when  we  add  to  this  element 
of  attractiveness  the  other  factors  already  mentioned 
and  especially  the  one  I  shall  try  especially  to  de- 

171 


LIBRARIES 

scribe,  it  is  easy  to  understand  why  library  work 
appeals  so  strongly  to  so  many  women.  This  special 
point  of  advantage  which  library  work  offers  lies  in 
the  many  kinds  of  employment  it  includes  and  the 
many  kinds  of  talent  and  skill  to  which  it  appeals. 


10 


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CATALOG  CARDS 


Let  me  make  my  meaning  plain.  Do  yon  liave 
some  skill  with  the  pen,  can  yon  write  clearly,  are 
you  painstaking  and  accurate  and  can  you  follow 
exactly  rules  set  for  your  guidance?  Then,  even 
though  3^ou  are  not  distinctly  bookish,  you  may  find  a 
place  as  a  subordinate  in  a  library's  catalog  depart- 
ment. If  you  add,  to  the  modest  talents  mentioned, 
skill  as  typewriter,  then  you  may  still  more  easily  find 
here  a  place.  You  would  write  cards  like  those 
shown  above.  From  two  to  twenty  of  these  cards  are 
Avritten  for  every  book  which  a  library  adds  to  its 
shelves.  In  writing  or  copying  these  cards  yon  (•;iii 
learn,  if  you  will,  and  almost  witliont  effort,  something 
about  the  best  books  of  to-day  and  of  all  time. 

172 


WOMEN  IN  LIBEAllY  WORK 

Have  you  a  good  knowledge  of  books  and  skill  in 
discovering  quickly  Avbat  are  the  main  points  in  any 
volume  you  may  pick  up?  To  a  good  general  educa- 
tion do  you  add  a  logical  or  at  least  an  orderly  mind? 
You  ma}',  then,  after  proper  study  and  discipline, 
find  a  place  in  a  library  as  a  classifier.  To  classify 
books  for  the  library  is  so  to  mark  them  that  when 
they  are  arranged  on  the  shelves  in  the  numerical  or 
alphabetical  order  of  the  marks  and  symbols  you  put 
on  them,  they  will  fall  into  groups ;  books  of  the  same 
subject  standing  together,  and  groups  on  the  same 
subject  standing  near  other  groups  on  allied  subjects. 
Properly  to  add  books  to  a  library  already  classi- 
fied, a  librar^^  let  us  say  of  50,000  volumes,  so 
that  one  who  wishes  to  consult  them  may  readily  find 
the  ones  he  seeks,  is  a  task  calling  for  skill  and  com- 
mon sense.  It  is  work  many  women  have  learned  to 
do  well. 

In  preparing  the  originals  of  the  records  of  books 
added  to  a  library,  making  of  the  records  an  index 
called  the  card  catalog,  other  special  qualities  are 
called  for.  Especially  does  the  worker  in  this  line  need 
a  large  fund  of  sympathy  Avith  other  minds,  quick 
appreciation  of  how  the  average  person  of  intelligence 
will  approach  a  subject.  A  library's  catalog  is  a  dic- 
tionary of  world  knowledge;  it  is,  rather,  an  index 
to  such  a  dictionary,  the  dictionary  being  found  in 
the  thousands  of  books  on  the  library  shelves.  Skill 
in  making  such  an  index  seems  almost  native  to  some 
of  the  women  in  our  libraries. 

The  kinds  of  work  thus  far  mentioned  call  for 
some  general  education,  for  long  special  practice  or 
for  i:)eculiar  aptness  or  for  all  three.  But,  in  the  same 
department  in  which  the  things  last  mentioned  are 
carried  out  much  other  work  of  clerical  nature  is  also 

173 


LIBRARIES 

done.  If  you  are  without  much  book  knowledge  l)ut 
are  patient,  careful,  accurate  and  skilful  with  jour 
hands,  you  may  find  work  in  a  library  in  this  subordi- 
nate department  of  the  library's  index  nniking.  For 
example,  in  almost  every  library  a  book  must  be 
looked  over  before  it  is  put  on  the  shelf  to  see  that 
it  is  complete,  and,  if  its  leaves  are  unopened,  they 
must  be  carefully  cut.  This  latter  task  alone  is  no 
light  one.  An  active  young  woman  can  do  little  more 
tha]i  cut  the  j)ages  of  six  or  seven  hundred  volumes 
in  a  week's  time  of  forty  to  fifty  hours. 

In  every  book  there  must  be  pasted,  inside  the  front 
cover,  a  book  plate;  if  it  is  a  lending  book,  there  must 
be  pasted  in  the  back  a  ijocket ;  on  this  pocket,  usually 
a  blank  piece  of  paper,  certain  symbols  or  words  must 
be  written;  a  book  card  must  be  prepared,  to  be  kept 
in  the  book  when  it  is  on  the  shelf  and  to  be  retained 
in  the  library  when  the  book  is  lent  to  show  to  whom 
it  was  lent;  on  the  back  of  the  book  must  be  put  a 
label. 

If  you  have  alwaj-s  been  a  reader,  and  by  a  reader 
I  mean  one  who  has  seized  the  spare  moments  to 
devour  books,  papers  and  journals  from  the  time  she 
was  six  until  she  was,  let  us  say,  twenty-two;  and  if 
you  remember  what  you  read;  if  you  have  an  agree- 
able presence  and  know  how  to  say  ^'no''  as  pleasantly 
as  "yes,"  yet  tend  to  be  obliging  rather  than  the  op- 
posite, then  you  might  find  a  place  as  an  assistant  at 
the  lending  desk  of  a  library.  Here  the  public  calls 
for  books  and  here  an  attendant,  getting  them  frcun 
the  slielves,  delivers  them.  The  routine  is  not  simple. 
Modern  libraries  believe  so  strongly  that  the  fewest 
possible  diflficulties  should  be  put  in  the  way  of  bor- 
rowers and  the  fewest  possible  duties  laid  (ui  them, 

174 


WO:\IEX  IN  LinilARY  WORK 

that  they  tend  naturally  to  throw  upon  the  attend- 
ant at  the  lending  desk  a  large  amount  of  detail. 

The  chief  of  the  lending  department  of  a  large 
library  must  be  a  person  of  very  decided  genius.  You 
cannot  aspire  to  such  a  position  unless  you  have 
either  a  college  education  or  its  equivalent,  a  wide 
knowledge  of  books,  no  small  experience  in  life,  agree- 
able manners,  and  ability  to  meet  people  of  all  ranks 
on  their  own  level.  The  routine  is  done  by  people 
who  are  not  thus  well  equipped. 

Have  you  read  much  in  many  lines?  Is  your 
memory  retentive?  Do  books  seem  to  you  to  have 
individualities  and  to  be  distinct  from  one  another 
like  so  many  human  beings?  Does  a  moment's  glance 
at  a  book  fix  its  general  features  in  your  memory? 
Do  you  feel  almost  instinctively  what  a  book,  and 
especially  an  encyclopedia  or  any  other  work  of  ref- 
erence, can  tell  you?  Then  you  may  hope  to  do  good 
work,  though  perhaps  only  after  some  years  of  prac- 
tice, in  a  reference  department.  To  the  person  who 
delights  in  knowledge,  and  instinctively  takes  in  and 
retains  information  of  all  kinds,  and  never  forgets  in 
which  book  a  fact  was  found,  to  such  a  person  general 
reference  work  especially  appeals.  Not  a  few  women 
have  some  special  talent  along  this  line  and  may  hope 
to  find  interesting  occupation  here. 

Book  surgery,  book  hygiene  and  book  rebinding 
form  a  department  of  library  work  which  was  long 
neglected,  l)ut  is  now  seen  to  be  of  great  importance. 
Any  woman  who  is  clever  with  her  hands  and  does 
not  scorn  manual  labor  could  make  herself  useful  in 
this  department.  In  large  libraries  the  head  of  tlio 
binding  and  repair  department  must  be  a  person  who 
knows  and  can  answer  questions  like  these,  about  any 

175 


LIBRARIES 

of  the  thousands  of  wounded  books  which  come  to  her 
for  attention :  "Is  it  still  popular,  and  slionld  it 
therefore  be  rebound?"  "Is  it  so  trivial  that  it  is 
not  worth  even  an  hour's  work  of  mending?"'  "Tho 
old  and  Avorn,  is  it  a  book  the  library  should  always 
have  on  its  shelves?"  "Is  it  a  book-rarit}',  which 
should  be  carefully  mended  and  then  as  carefully  re- 
bound?'' "Is  its  iDaper  so  poor  that  to  rebind  it  is  a 
waste  of  money?'' 

A  knowledge  of  book-making  and  literature  suoli 
as  these  queries  suggest  is  not  all  the  head  of  this 
department  must  have.  She  must  know  about  leather, 
cloth,  i)aper,  string,  tape,  thread,  glue,  paste  and 
many  other  things  which  go  to  the  making,  repairing 
and  rebinding  of  books;  and  she  must  also  know 
enough  about  the  binder's  craft  to  be  able  to  tell 
whether  a  book  is  skillfulh'  and  honestly  rebound  or 
not. 

In  many  public  libraries  a  third  of  all  the  books 
taken  to  homes  are  lent  to  children.  The  children 
have  rooms  of  their  own  in  most  libraries;  and  here, 
if  you  are  fond  of  children  and  have  some  tact  in 
their  management,  you  may  hope  to  find  a  place. 
The  work  is  not  easy,  but  is  not  as  trying  as  teacliing. 
If  you  hope  to  make  progress  in  it  you  must  be  a 
reader,  as  I  have  already  defined  the  word,  and  espe- 
cially^ 3"ou  must  know  the  books  which  children  read 
and  the  books  about  children.  Moreover,  this  chil- 
dren's work  brings  one  in  contact  with  the  schools, 
and  to  be  effective  here  one  must  know  something 
about  the  teacher's  work,  her  difficulties,  her  class- 
room conditions,  her  textbooks  and  her  courses  of 
study. 

The  kinds  of  work  I  have  mentioned  are  done 
in    separate    and    semi-independeiit    departments    in 

17G 


WOMEN  IN  LIliKARY   WORK 

larger  libraries.  In  some  of  them  it  is  the  custom 
to  test  the  capacity,  taste  and  skill  of  each  new  mem- 
ber of  the  staff,  particularly  of  those  not  trained  in 
any  other  library,  by  placing  them  in  several  depart- 
ments in  succession  until  the  work  they  are  best  fitted 
for  is  found. 

In  the  smallest  library  all  the  kinds  of  work  I  have 
mentioned  and  many  other  kinds  also,  as  well  as 
many  minor  details,  are  done  by  one  or  two  persons 
and  it  is  in  the  small  library  that  a  young  woman  can 
find  the  best  opportunity  to  show  her  capacity  for 
work  helpful  to  the  community  which  supports  her 
library;  and  an  opportunity  also  to  gain  a  broad 
general  education  and  admirable  training  in  the 
special  field  of  library  economy. 

There  is  no  public  institution  quite  as  broad  in 
its  possibilities  of  public  service  as  the  free  public 
library  in  America,  and  especially  the  free  library  of 
the  small  town. 

The  library  worker  in  such  a  library,  if  she  has 
the  wisdom  and  temperament  proper  for  her  position, 
does  not  need  a  great  store  of  book  knowledge  when 
she  begins,  nor  does  she  need  great  skill  in  the  tech- 
nique of  her  calling;  for  she  will  necessarily  acquire 
these  things  if  she  performs  her  duties  well  and  tries 
to  take  advantage  of  all  opportunities.  She  must  be 
a  friend  of  her  trustees,  their  adviser  and  their  busi- 
ness manager;  she  must  watch  tlie  funds  and  practice 
economy  yet  not  permit  her  community  to  think  about 
the  library  in  terms  of  parsimony;  she  must  select 
and  buy  the  books  best  suited  to  her  town  and  she 
is  the  person  who,  if  she  is  fit  for  her  position,  can  do 
this  to  the  best  advantage,  better  than  any  book  com- 
mittee can  do  it.  She  must  meet  with  and  make 
friends  of  all  patrons,  old  and  young,  and  be  their 


12 


LIBRARIES 

adviser  in  matters  botli  serious  and  recreational  con- 
cerning reading;  she  must  attract  the  teachers  that 
through  them  she  may  reach  the  children ;  she  must 
lead  the  children  themselves  from  nickel  libraries  or, 
what  is  more  difficult,  from  no  reading  whatever,  to 
the  good  things  in  print  for  them,  and  the  children 
must  not  know  they  are  being  led;  she  must  know 
about  women's  clubs,  and  help  form  their  programs 
and  buy  books  that  will  be  useful  to  their  members; 
and  she  must  not  forget  boys'  debating  societies,  and 
lyceum  lectures,  and  special  duties  in  churches  and 
in  Sunday  schools,  and  questions  of  village  improve- 
ment, like  sewers  and  sidewalks  and  trees  and  water 
supply ;  and  she  must  be  interested  in  all  other  things 
that  concern  her  town,  and  ready  to  supply  the  book 
or  journal  that  gives  the  latest  and  best  information 
about  them.  The  history  of  the  town,  the  soil,  the 
products,  the  climate,  the  geography,  the  industries, 
the  fairs,  the  games,  the  festivals — all  these  she  must 
keep  in  her  mind  as  matters  which  may  any  day  prove 
of  special  interest  and  may  demand  special  informa- 
tion. A  historical  society,  or  a  science  museum,  or  a 
nature  club,  or  a  farmer's  club  may  any  day  spring 
into  life,  and  it  will  then  be  her  pleasure  to  furnish 
some  encouragement  and  much  information  to  those 
interested. 

I  have  set  down  thus  briefly  the  wide  variety  of 
work  which  may  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  librarian  of 
the  small  library,  because  all  of  these  kinds  of  work 
are  found  also  in  the  larger  libraries,  are  there  much 
specialized  and  may  there  attract,  as  this  paper  tries 
to  show,  women  of  very  varied  gifts  and  accomplish- 
ments. 

To  go  a  little  further  witli  the  librarian  of  the 
modest  town  and  thus,  though  indirectly,  with  the 

178 


WOMEN  IN  LIBEAKY  WORK 

humblest  or  the  highest  assistant  in  the  large  library. 
The  outside  world  must  not  absorb  her ;  for  she  must 
know  her  books.  To  know  them  she  must  read  un- 
ceasingly ;  not  much  in  a  few  books,  but  a  little  in  all 
the  books,  all  the  journals,  all  the  book  catalogs,  all 
the  many  pamphlets  and  all  the  newspapers  which 
come  to  her  library.  With  her  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion of  what  to  read;  she  must  read  it  all;  not  all 
of  all  she  sees,  but  a  little  of  everything  she  sees. 
Any  worker  in  any  library  who  does  not  read,  read, 
read,  and  forever  read,  can  not  hope  for  and  ought 
not  to  expect  any  notable  success. 

What  this  friend  of  books  who  has  books  in  her 
charge  and  learns  to  know  them  and  learns  to  know 
her  town — what  this  modest  librarian  does  for  her 
community  by  the  agency  of  her  library  and  its  books 
is  another  story.  My  purpose  in  this  paper  is  simply 
to  show  that  to  work  among  a  library's  books  for  the 
people  who  own  the  books  is  a  many-sided  occupation, 
attractive  through  its  general  character  to  all  right- 
minded  young  women,  and  appealing  specially  to 
women  of  varied  tastes  and  talents  through  its  many- 
sidedness. 


179 


BRANCH   LIBRARIES   IN   SCHOOL   HOUSES 

Address  Delivered  before  the  American  Lihrary 
Institute,  September,  1911 

Two  very  important  changes  are  rapidly  taking 
place  in  the  management  of  pnl)lic  schools.  One  is 
the  adoption  of  the  plan  of  all-the-year  sessions.  Up 
to  about  five  years  ago  it  was  impossible  to  find  in 
the  educational  literature  of  this  country  any  men- 
tion, much  less  any  discussion,  of  the  subject  of  the 
short  school  year,  the  long  vacation  and  the  frequent 
holiday  and  their  influence  on  public  school  effi- 
ciency. To-day  the  situation  is  greatly  changed. 
All-the-year  schools  are  freely  discussea  and  very 
generally  advocated.  Except  for  an  accident  this 
system  would  have  been  given  a  trial  in  two  large 
schools  in  Newark  this  3^ear.  Several  smaller  towns 
are  already  testing  it;  some  of  the  Cleveland  high 
schools  have  adopted  it;  and  the  admission  is  now 
freely  made  that  the  present  short  and  badly  broken 
educational  year  of  189  days  is  one  of  the  most 
serious  of  the  burdens  under  which  our  schools  are 
suffering.  The  adoption  of  this  rational  school  year 
will  mean  the  use  of  city  public  school  buildings  by 
day  schools  for  about  250  days  each  year  instead  of 
the  present  189. 

This  increase  in  the  days  in  which  school  build- 
ings are  in  use  is  of  great  interest  to  the  library 
profession.  It  is  quite  in  line  with  the  effect  of  the 
second  of  the  two  noteworthy  changes  in  public 
school  management  which,  as  I  have  said,  are  now 
under  way,  that  is,  the  growth  of  the  use  of  school 
buildings  by  the  general  public. 

This  appropriation  by  the  people  of  their  own 
school  buildings  to  public  purposes  has  perhaps  been 

181 


LIBRARIES 

carried  further  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  than  anywhere 
else.  The  fame  of  what  has  there  been  done  has  been 
very  admirably  and  very  helpfully  spread  abroad.  A 
like  movement  has  been  going  on  in  many  other  towns 
and  cities.  Only  those  who  can  recall  the  universal 
hostility  with  which  was  received  twenty  years  ago, 
the  suggestion  that  school  houses  be  used  for  general 
educational  and  social  purposes,  can  realize  how 
great  has  been  the  revolution  in  public  opinion  in  this 
respect.  Within  a  few  years  no  city  will  plan  a 
school  building  without  providing  for  its  use  by  those 
who  live  near  it  in  a  score  of  helpful,  social  wa^'s,  ne 
one  of  which  would  have  have  been  thought,  twenty 
years  ago,  to  be  part  of  the  functions  of  such  a 
structure. 

Add,  now,  to  the  all-the-year  use  of  school  houses  by 
daylight  public  schools,  their  use  on  Saturdays,  vaca- 
tions and  evenings  by  the  parents  of  the  pupils,  and 
you  have  a  building  very  much  better  suited  to  be  the 
home  of  a  branch  library' — and  in  the  small  com- 
munity of  the  public  librarj^  itself — than  was  the 
school  house  of  a  few  years  ago. 

Another  quite  recent  development  of  public  scliool 
work  makes  the  school  building  a  still  better  center 
for  a  library.  I  refer  to  the  evening  school,  which 
flourishes  in  every  large  city  and  in  many  has  grown 
to  enormous  proportions.  Newark  is  in  the  front 
rank  among  American  cities  in  the  number  of  pupils 
in  its  evening  schools  and  in  the  proportion  of  attend- 
ance to  enrollment.  Last  winter  there  were  eighteen 
elementary  evening  schools,  six  evening  high  schools, 
an  evening  drawing  school,  an  evening  technical 
.scliool,  with  a  total  enrollment  in  all  of  tliem  of 
14,800  students;  this  in  a  city  of  340,000  population. 

In  the  public  school  building  of  to-morrow  we  shall 

182 


BRANCH  LIBRARIES  IN  SCHOOLS 

have  a  day  school  iu  session  nearly  250  days  per  year, 
and  an  evening  school  in  session  probably  two-thirds 
as  many  evenings;  adults  will  have  in  it  every  even- 
ing and  on  many  holiday  afternoons  lectures,  socials, 
debates,  special  classes  in  domestic  science,  hygiene 
and  a  score  of  other  things. 

It  is  self-evident  that  in  a  public  building  thus 
used  there  should  be  a  branch  of  the  public  library. 
A  building  thus  used,  moreover,  provides  nearly  all 
the  social  center  facilities  Avhich  at  one  time  the 
branch  library,  or  the  main  library  itself,  seemed 
alone  fitted  to  furnish. 

The  conclusion  is  inevitable,  that  a  city's  branch 
libraries  will  in  the  future  find  their  proper  locations 
in  most  cases  in  that  city's  school  buildings. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  raise  here  the  argument  of 
econom3\  It  may,  and  probably  will,  cost  less  to 
equip  and  maintain  branch  libraries  in  school  houses 
than  in  independent  buildings;  but  unless  the  branch 
in  the  school  house  were  more  efficient  and  generally 
better  adapted  to  its  ends  than  the  independent 
branch,  the  change  of  location  would  not  be  justified. 
A  very  brief  consideration  of  the  matter  makes  it 
seem  almost  self-evident  that  a  branch  library  in  the 
school  house  of  the  new  type  will  be  in  the  most 
strategic  quarters  that  can  be  found  for  it. 

The  ideal  building  of  the  future,  to  indulge  in  a 
forecast  based  on  many  actual  approximations  to  an 
ideal,  will  contain  school  rooms  used  for  kinder- 
gartens, for  ordinary  schools,  and  for  manual  or  voca- 
tional training,  and  at  night  for  evening  schools  of 
many  kinds.  It  will  also  contain  a  gymnasium,  large 
and  small  assembly  rooms  with  stages,  lanterns,  cur- 
tains, etc.,  cooking  and  domestic  economy  equipment, 
equipment    for   freehand   and   mechanical    drawing, 

183 


LIBRARIES 

museum  room,  and  a  librar}'.  This  library  will  have 
an  outside  entrance  and  will  be  open  at  all  hours,  not 
only  for  teachers  and  pupils,  but  also  for  the  people 
of  the  neij>hborhood.  On  the  special  arrangement 
and  equipment  of  this  room  I  need  not  here  enlarge. 

The  trend  of  educational  development  is  toward 
this  wider  and  fuller  use  of  public  buildings  and  to- 
ward this  closer  cooperation  between  the  directors  of 
formal  education  and  the  keepers  of  the  people's 
books. 

The  arrangement  just  described  will  probably  not 
lead  to  the  disappearance  of  the  branch  library  as 
an  offshoot  of  a  main  central  independent  institution, 
even  if  the  branch  be  in  a  school  house.  The  advan- 
tages which  accrue  to  the  community  from  the  pos- 
session of  a  library  with  its  own  management  and  its 
own  individuality  seem  to  be  too  great  to  be  given  up 
for  the  sake  of  a  possible  reduction  of  expense. 
Branch  libraries  in  the  schools  will  probably  continue 
to  be  parts  of  an  independent  library  system. 

But  toward  such  a  cooperation  and  combination 
of  the  library  and  the  public  school  as  I  have  briefly 
outlined  it  would  seem  that  we  are  steadily  moving. 

The  use  of  public  school  buildings  for  many  pur- 
poses for  Avhich,  up  to  a  very  recent  date,  they  were 
assumed  not  to  be  adapted,  is  but  one  special  aspect 
of  the  recent  rapid  growth  of  municipal  efficiency. 
Our  cities  have,  as  might  be  expected  in  a  new  coun- 
try, failed  to  govern  themselves  well.  This  failure 
has  shown  itself  in  many  ways,  and  particularly  in 
the  lack  of  cooperation  between  departments.  This 
lack  has  led  to  much  duplication  of  labor,  doul)ling 
of  expense  and  neglect  of  important  work  that  gained 
nobody's  attention  because  it  seemed  everybody's  busi- 
ness.    Some  cities,  for  example,  have  had  three  sets 

184 


BRANCH  LIBRAIUES  IN  SCHOOLS 

of  snmmer  plaYi^rouiuls  provided  respectively  by  a 
board  of  education,  a  park  and  shade  tree  commission 
and  a  special  commission  on  playgrounds. 

The  educational  work  of  a  community  includes 
day  schools,  evening  schools,  trade  and  vocational 
schools,  playgrounds,  summer  schools,  libraries,  mu- 
seums of  art,  science  and  technology,  and  many  other 
things.  The  well-governed  city  of  the  future  may  find 
it  wise  to  group  all  these  educational  movements  un- 
der one  management.  Whether  that  will  be  the  best 
possible  plan,  no  one  as  yet  can  tell.  It  is  quite  plain, 
however,  that  much  closer  cooperation  will  be  insisted 
on  than  has  heretofore  been  practiced  between  the 
bodies  which  manage  a  city's  efforts  to  teach  and  train 
its  youth.  It  is  toward  this  helpful  cooperation 
that  school  and  library  move  when  they  unite  in 
placing  in  each  school  building  an  ample  and  well- 
managed  collection  of  the  world's  best  books. 


l.sr) 


RELATIONS  OF  A  LIBRARY  TO  ITS  CITY 

Address  Delivered  before  the  League  of  American 
Municipalities,  Buffalo,  September  IS,  1912 

I  seem  to  find  myself  coustitutionally  opposed  to 
the  office-holder.  We  all  have  our  sinful  thoughts 
and  perhaps  this  is  mine !  Through  one  of  life's  little 
jokes  I  am  an  office-holder  myself,  partly,  one  might 
suppose,  in  punishment  for  my  sinfulness  of  thought. 
Through  another  of  life's  little  jokes  the  punishment 
does  not  fit  the  criminal,  since  I  thoroughly  enjoy  my 
office-holding!  For  over  twenty  years  I  have  found 
that  I  leave  my  library  with  regret,  however  long  the 
day  has  been,  and  return  to  it  always  with  delight. 

This  anti-office-holding  theory  is  simple  and  axi- 
omatic. A  man  conducting  his  own  business  wins 
money,  fame  and  honor  by  attention,  toil,  integrity 
and  brains;  and  loses  money,  fame  and  honor 
through  negligence,  sloth,  double-dealing  and  stupid- 
ity. A  man  conducting  a  public  business  finds  that 
excellence  of  work  maj  sometimes  accompany  him 
direct  to  the  pillory  of  condemnation  by  his  master 
the  voter,  and  that  work  evilly  done  may  sometimes 
go  with  high  public  favor.  The  man  who  runs  a  busi- 
ness finds  that  success  Avaits  chiefly  on  his  own 
efforts ;  the  man  in  the  public  office  finds  that  success 
waits  on  voters'  whims.  The  man  in  business  culti- 
vates his  business ;  the  man  in  office  must  cultivate  his 
constituents.  The  business  man  is  driven  to  effi- 
ciency, the  office-holder  is  driven  to  dally  with  the 
voter ! 

There  you  have  in  brief  the  theory  under  which 
we  find  that  a  democracy  of  offices  and  elections  is 
condemned  to  submit  to  inefficient  holders  of  office. 

187 


LIBRARIES 

And  yet,  here  we  are,  and  doing  not  so  ill  as  the 
theory  says  we  must.  Perhaps  the  theory  grants  not 
enough  to  the  factor  of  poor  human  nature.  Perhaps 
human  nature  compels  some  of  us  to  enjo}'  our  tasks 
and  to  do  our  best  in  them,  regardless  of  tumult  and 
shouting  at  the  primaries  aud  astouudiug  conclusious 
at  the  ballot-box. 

A  friend  in  Newark  who  is  but  a  close  second  and 
almost  a  first  witli  me  in  enthusiasm  for  democratic 
ideals,  is  fond  of  saying  tliat  after  all  public  business 
is  more  lionestly  managed  than  a  great  i)rivate  Imsi- 
ness;  perhaps  not  as  effectively  managed, — an  over- 
plus of  rotation  in  office  is  alone  sufficient  to  prevent 
that, — but  more  decently  and  with  less  financial  waste. 

I  find  it  hard  to  believe  him.  Governmental  sins 
are  so  obtrusive,  are  so  hilariously  dangled  before  us 
by  an  unterrified  public  press. 

But,  in  these  later  years  I  begin  to  see  facts  tliat 
weigh  heavily  on  his  side.  Here  is  one.  A  great  rail- 
road spent  a  few  millions  in  improving  its  line.  Un- 
der certain  huge  embankments  it  built  arches  for  the 
passage  of  highways.  Against  due  warnings,  intent 
more  on  immediate  economies  than  on  community 
welfare  or  tlie  voice  of  foretliought,  it  built  these 
arches  narrower  than  tlie  state  hiw  commanded.  Now 
it  must  spend  about  half  a  million  doHars  in  rebuild- 
ing and  widening  tliese  same  arclies!  Somewliere  in 
that  railroad's  maiuigement  is  a  spirit  which  is  at 
times  self-centered  and  pig-headed  and  here,  for  one 
of  its  demonstrations,  the  stockholders  must  meekly 
pay  a  sum  large  enough  to  arouse  a  noble  tumult 
among  the  voters — were  their  city  fathers  to  nuike  a 
like  error — of  the  largest  munici])ality. 

And  so,  at  sight  of  an  example  here  ami  there  of 
excellence  in  office,  easily  found  if  you  look,  and  of 

188 


RELATIONS  OF  A  LTIiRARY  TO  ITS  CITY 

stupidity  and  sin  in  plain  and  pure  business,  I  become 
reconciled  to  my  position  as  a  delighted,  somewhat 
laborious  and  I  hope  moderately  successful  office 
holder. 

As  such  it  is  a  pleasure  to  meet  with  my  fellows 
who  are  seeking  to  learn  from  one  another  so  much  of 
the  fine  and  difficult  art  of  city  management  as  each 
may  have  discovered.  If  we  must  be  municipal  of- 
ficials, let  us  do  our  best  to  learn  the  art  and  craft 
of  public  business. 

Other  trades,  arts  and  sciences  less  difficult  than 
city  management  have  their  clubs,  leagues  and  associ- 
ations and  pass  the  hat  for  contributions  of  ideas  for 
the  common  purse  of  information.  Then  let  man- 
agers of  cities  also  join  hands.  In  this  business  there 
is  much  to  learn  and  nothing  to  conceal.  There  are 
no  trade  secrets  in  civics.  The  jealousies  of  size  and 
beauty  are  for  promoters  and  real  estate  speculators 
and  are  always  squelched  at  last  by  health  reports 
and  census  figures.  In  city  government  you  can  es- 
tablish no  monopoly  of  excellence.  You  may  use  a 
patent  pavement  if  you  are  in  the  patent  pavement 
stage  of  development ;  but  the  art  of  cheaply  keeping 
it  clean  is  not  open  to  patent  or  copyright. 

The  fact  is  that  the  world  knows  how  to  run  a 
city  in  the  best  possible  way.  The  world  knows  it, 
but  no  one  man  knows  it  and  no  one  city  knows  it. 
I  mean  that  somewhere  in  this  or  other  lands,  some 
mayor,  fire  or  police  commissioner,  health  officer, 
school  supervisor  or  what  not  is  running  his  particu- 
lar department  better  than  it  was  ever  run  before, 
more  easily,  more  cheaply,  more  agreeably  to  the 
public. 

It  is  our  business  to  find  him,  get  from  him  his 
method,  always  given  for  the  asking,  and  apply  it. 

189 


LIBRARIES 

The  best  in  everj'^  line,  that  is  what  this  league  is 
seeking  for  and  wishing  to  apply.  The  city  that  finds 
and  applies  these  best  ideas  is  the  city  that  is  best 
governed.  A  league  devoted  to  the  search  for  the 
world's  best  municipal  ideas  is  a  league  to  encourage. 

Here  is  where  the  library  comes  in.  In  books, 
journals  and  reports,  that  is,  in  print,  are  to  be  found 
all  of  these  best  ideas,  and  if  you  wish  to  find  them, 
to  print  you  must  go.  Now,  it  is  a  library's  busi- 
ness to  take  care  of  all  that's  in  print,  to  store  it  and 
index  it  and  so  fix  it  that  it  will  yield  up  to  the 
inquirer  all  that  it  contains.  In  print  somewhere  are 
nearly  all  the  secrets  of  good  city  management. 

Your  first  library  should  be  your  own.  You  have 
already  accepted  the  idea  of  a  central  bureau  of  mu- 
nicipal knowledge;  you  could  do  no  better  thing  than 
to  carry  out  the  idea  in  all  its  fullness.  Every  city 
needs  the  expert,  not  now  and  then  but  at  every  turn. 
The  expert  is  simply  one  wlio  has  cast  an  unpreju- 
diced eye  on  many  actual  experiments  and  drawn  the 
obvious  conclusion  therefrom.  A  library  of  muni- 
cipal reports  is  a  collection  of  municipal  experiences. 
Gather  these  reports  and  put  by  them  men  able  to 
draw  from  them  the  facts  and  to  set  the  facts  in 
good  order,  and  expertness  comes  forth.  In  Newark 
we  ignorantly  quarrel  over  the  paving  of  our  Broad 
street.  Your  league  library  should  send  us,  for  a 
reasonable  fee,  the  results  of  tlie  latest  experiments 
in  paving  of  every  kind  under  conditions  like  our  own, 
and  our  quarrel  would  be  at  once  relieved  of  igno- 
rance and  reduced  to  dollars  and  cents. 

Every  librarian  in  the  country,  every  city  govern- 
ment, every  expert  and  every  contractor  for  city  work 
would  welcome  a  great  library  founded  by  a  h^igne 
of  cities,     Wlmtever  it  might  cost  it  would  earn  that 

190 


KELATIONS  OF  A  LIBRARY  TO  ITS  CITY 

cost  a  huudred  times  over  every  year.  Consider  the 
countless  letters  and  circulars  every  intelligent  city 
department  is  every  year  paying  for  to  get  informa- 
tion from  other  cities,  information  which  is  always 
fragmentary  and  usually  misleading.  A  league 
library  would  tell  the  whole  story  and  tell  it  straight 
to  a  hundred  cities  at  once  at  little  more  than  the 
present  cost  of  incomplete  information  to  one. 

Consider  also  the  endless  errors  of  judgment  into 
which  cities  fall  through  lack  of  the  latest  informa- 
tion on  sewage,  fire  prevention,  construction,  admini- 
stration and  a  hundred  other  things,  all  costing 
money,  often  very  much  money,  and  nearly  all  avoid- 
able with  the  aid  of  a  great  central  bureau  of  muni- 
cipal knoATledge  and  municipal  experiences. 

But  you  are  familiar  with  all  this,  and  have  begun 
the  work  indicated.  I  speak  of  it  because  as  a 
librarian  I  realize  how  valuable  a  really  great  bureau 
would  be  and  how  gladly  it  would  be  welcomed  and 
eagerly  cooperated  with  by  all  the  progressive  public 
libraries  in  the  country. 

Of  this  league  library  the  municipal  library  of 
every  city  would  be  a  branch.  Much  of  the  work 
municipal  libraries  now  vainly  attempt  to  do  would 
be  better  done  by  that  of  the  league.  But  each  city 
would  still  have  its  own  problems,  peculiar  to  itself, 
in  the  solution. of  which  its  own  library  would  be  most 
helpful.  Moreover,  every  city  must  keep  its  own 
records  with  increasing  care  and  must,  if  it  is  to 
legislate  wisely,  change  its  ordinances  and  draft  new 
ones  in  the  light  of  information  which  a  municipal 
library,  complete,  well  indexed  and  controlled  by  a 
master  of  books  and  print  can  alone  furnish. 

The  institution  I  have  charge  of  is  a  free  public 
library.     It  was  established  in   1889.     Its  building 

191 


LIBRARIES 

\va.s  erected  on  vote  of  the  citizens  and  at  their  own 
exi)ense  in  1900,  at  a  cost  of  -1325,000  and  among  all 
in  the  country  which  are  at  all  like  it  in  size  or  cost 
is  easily  the  best.  1  was  not  in  Newark  when  it  was 
built  so  I  speak  without  prejudice;  I  have  worked  in 
it  for  eleven  ^ears  and  have  seen  manj'  other  libraries, 
so  I  speak  with  knowledge ;  I  am  rather  proud  of  good 
things  in  my  adopted  city,  so  I  speak  with  pleasure; 
and  as  I  now  have  the  floor,  I  can  speak  without  fear 
of  immediate  contradiction. 

The  building  being  of  the  best,  the  institution  it 
houses  should  enjoy  a  like  degree  of  excellence.  Here 
I  am  more  modest  in  mj  expression  and  will  confine 
myself  to  saying  that  Newark  seems  to  like  it. 

An  ounce  of  experience  is  Avorth  a  pound  ftf  theory, 
so  instead  of  trying  to  describe  to  you  the  place  an 
ideal  library  occupies  in  the  life  of  an  ideal  city  I 
am  going  to  tell  you  very  briefly  what  the  Newark 
library  has  been  and  done  in  its  city  in  the  years  I 
have  known  its  work,  since  January,  1901.  AVere 
there  more  time  I  would  depart  from  my  story  now 
and  then  to  tell  of  certain  good  things  other  libraries 
have  done  which  we  have  not,  for  there  are  other 
libraries;  and  you  will  pretend  to  be  reasonably  sur- 
prised, I  hope,  when  I  say  that  some  have  done  things 
we  have  not,  or  have  done  better  what  we  have  also 
done. 

But  first  let  me  give  you  an  axiom  or  two.  Public 
institutions  should  enjoy  the  approval,  the  respect 
and,  I  dare  to  use  the  word,  the  affection  of  their 
public.  Do  you  inquire  about  the  place  of  any  city 
department  in  the  life  of  its  city?  Go  find  if  the 
public  like  it  and  are  proud  of  it,  and  your  question 
is  answered.  It  is  an  axiom,  is  it  not?  And  it  ap- 
plies, does  it  not,  as  well  to  the  private  enterprise 

192 


RELATIONS  OF  A  LIIiKAKY  TO  ITS  CITY 

working  within  a  city  as  surely  and  entirely  as  it 
does  to  any  city  department?  How  much  more  com- 
fortable, efficient  and  prosperous  many  a  public 
utility  business  Avould  have  been  in  the  past  decade 
had  they  pasted  that  axiom  in  their  hats,  and  then 
lived  up  to  it! 

Now,  I  think  Newark  likes  its  public  library  and 
have  faith  she  is  proud  of  it.  Tavo  things  lead  me 
to  these  conclusions  and  lend  me  the  conceit  to  say 
them: 

First,  the  generous  hospitality  with  which  I  have 
been  treated  in  all  my  eleven  years  of  residence.  I 
think  they  were  proud  of  their  library  when  I  came, 
and  they  had  reason  to  be  if  only  because  they  built  it 
and  paid  for  it  themselves,  and  quite  naturally  they 
expected  it  to  continue  to  be  worthy  and  enjoyable 
and  to  have  at  its  head  one  whom  they  could  pleas- 
antly endure.  At  any  rate,  there  the  good  will  was, 
and  I  defy  any  man  of  feeling  to  go  to  a  new  city  and 
be  received  with  good  will  and  good  wishes  and  hearty 
support,  as  I  was,  and  not  put  forth  his  best  in  the 
effort  to  make  his  work  a  success.  I  hope  these 
remarks  are  not  too  personal ! 

Another  reason  for  thinking  Newarkers  like  their 
library  is  that  they  support  it.  Our  annual  income 
has  grown  in  eleven  years  from  |^4,000  to  $120,000, 
nearly  threefold  and  it  is  difficult  to  find  those  who 
have  begrudged  the  money.  Following  the  axiom  I 
gave  you,  is  another,  that  if  you  like  a  thing  you  are 
willing  to  pay  what  it  costs. 

Our  library  was  established  in  1889.  For  twelve 
years  it  was  well  but  very  modestly  housed  in  an  old 
remodeled  theatre.  It  got  its  second  wind,  and 
almost  a  new  birth  when  it  moved  into  its  building 
twelve  years  ago.     It  is  the  story  of  its  eleven  latest 

193 

13 


LIBKAKIES 

years,  diiriiij4'  which  I  have  known  it  intimately,  that 
I  shall  tell  you. 

In  lUOl  we  had  79,(100  books  and  Newark  people 
took  home  to  read  315,000  a  year;  we  now  have 
1*00,000  and  this  year  we  lend  over  a  million. 

Now,  those  are  the  basic  lignres  of  most  estimates 
of  libraries.  And  it  is  true  that  the  good  library 
grows  in  books  and  is  more  used  by  its  patrons  every 
year.  But  conditions  so  vary  in  different  cities  that 
these  figures  never  tell  the  whole  story.  Newark  is 
not  a  reading  city.  It  is  industrial,  it  is  a  snburl), 
and  thousands  of  its  adults  speak  English  onh'  a  little 
and  read  it  not  at  all.  To  promote  the  library's  use 
we  had  to  advertise  it,  and  in  advertising  we  spent 
much  energy,  time  and  money.  The  trustees  said,  in 
effect,  "Our  city  has  put  into  this  plant,  including 
land,  building,  equipment  and  books,  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  million  dollars.  If  this  plant  is  idle 
that  money  is  locked  up  and  doesn't  even  draw  inter- 
est. The  people  of  our  town  don't  know  wliat  a  good 
thing  their  public  library  is,  and  it  is  our  duty  to 
show  them  and  get  them  to  use  it."  And  they  did', 
and  the  story  of  how  they  did  is  the  story  of  the 
library's  work  over  and  above  tlie  buying,  indexing 
and  lending  of  books. 

One  of  the  mysteries  of  modern  library  manage- 
ment is  the  pay  roll.  To  explain  that  mystery  is  not 
my  business  today.  I  will  only  say  that  our  pay  roll 
takes  about  53  per  cent  of  our  income,  and  that  is 
the  average  in  all  the  larger  libraries  of  the  country 
right  now.  This  means  that  our  library  has  been 
able  to  take  a  place  in  the  city's  life,  besides  buying 
and  lending  books,  without  spending  more  on  salaries 
than  do  libraries  which  are  not  so  municipally  active. 

Our  building  is  so  large  that  we  still  have  seven 

194 


RELATIONS  OF  A  LIP.RARY  TO  ITS  CITY 

rooms,  having  a  total  of  more  than  10,000  square  feet, 
which  the  book  part  of  onr  work  doesn't  need. 

AVe  have  had  some  or  all  of  the  building  open  for 
public  nse  every  day  in  eleven  years  save  about 
twenty-five;  a  total  of  50  per  cent  more  hours  than 
any  other  public  building  in  the  city,  and  more  than 
three  times  as  many  hours  as  the  school  houses.  I 
maintain  that  this  is  as  it  should  be.  A  public 
building  should  be  used.  While  the  building  was 
thus  open  the  people  of  the  city  held  in  the  spare 
rooms  mentioned,  in  eleven  years,  about  6,000  meet- 
ings, by  and  for  nearly  700  different  organizations, 
with  a  total  attendance  of  about  180,000.  These 
meetings  ranged  from  boys'  debating  clubs  to  the 
Board  of  Trade,  and  covered  such  subjects  as  city 
planning,  charity,  hospitals,  pedagogy,  tuberculosis, 
philosophy',  languages,  and  the  world's  peace.  As 
long  as  there  was  a  room  unused  an^'  public  welfare 
educational  movement,  not  looking  for  money  profits 
to  any  individual,  could  find  free  of  charge  for  its 
orderly  meetings  a  warm,  well-lighted  and  properly 
janitored  room  in  the  library  building.  On  many  days 
ten  such  meetings  have  been  held.  In  this  movement 
for  getting  the  maximum  of  use  out  of  a  city's  public 
educational  buildings  I  wish  to  make  here  a  claim  for 
Newark  as  pioneer  in  liberality  and  extent.  Of  dis- 
turbance, bad  feeling,  trouble,  because  the  A's  could 
have  a  room  for  their  meetings  and  the  B's  could  not 
— of  this  kind  of  thing  there  was  in  the  eleven  years 
not  an  item  worthy  of  mention. 

We  call  this  daily  use  of  the  library  plant  very 
good  advertising.  While  it  has  been  going  on  the 
annual  use  of  the  library's  books  increased  about  300 
per  cent  while  the  population  increased  about  10  per 
cent. 

195 


LIBEARIES 

I  said  Newark  is  not  a  reading  town.  It  seemed 
the  library's  business  to  try  to  make  it  one.  Grown- 
ups can't  be  tangiit  to  use  books.  Children  can;  so 
we  put  a  good  deal  of  time,  thought  and  money  into 
plans  for  introducing  school  children  to  good  books. 

In  eleven  years  teachers  have  taken  into  their 
school  rooms  more  than  5,000  little  libraries  of  about 
fifty  books  each,  kept  them  for  a  term  and  used  them 
to  encourage  and  guide  the  reading  of  their  pupils. 
We  have  children's  books  in  most  of  our  branches, 
and  we  have  a  room  for  children  in  the  library  build- 
ing, and  about  a  fourth  of  the  million  books  we  lend 
each  3'ear  are  borrowed  by  young  people. 

We  wanted  to  help  interest  the  children  in  their 
city,  so  we  began  about  ten  years  ago  to  gather  inter- 
esting books,  articles,  clippings  and  pictures  on 
Kewark.  Then  we  induced  a  newspaper  man  who 
knew  his  own  city  to  write  a  history  of  Newark 
for  young  people,  and  we  published  it.  Then  New- 
ark study  began  to  creep  into  the  public  school 
course,  and  we  continued  to  hunt  up  and  reprint  and 
lend  short  accounts  of  Newark  institutions  of  all 
kinds,  city  departments,  public  buildings,  parks, 
streets,  trolleys,  trees,  water,  sewage,  hospitals,  and 
scores  of  other  things.  Then  the  schools  supplied 
themselves  with  better  maps  of  the  city,  about  ten  feet 
square,  than  any  city  school  had  ever  had  before ;  then 
the  Board  of  Education  asked  an  assistant  superin- 
tendent to  write  a  course  of  study  on  Newark  for 
all  the  grades — and  he  did,  and  so  we  have  the  first 
carefully  worked  out  and  by  far  the  most  complete 
plan  for  teaching  the  children  of  a  city  to  know  their 
own  city  that  the  world  has  yet  seen. 

Please  put  down  this  my  second  claim  for  Newark, 
that  she  is  the  pioneer  in  teaching  children  city  patri- 

196 


EELATIONS  OF  A  LIBRARY  TO  ITS  CITY 

otism  in  the  only  rational  way,  by  giving  them,  first, 
a  knowledge  of  their  city  and  so  an  intelligent  interest 
in  their  city  and,  thereby,  sympathy  with  their  city, 
and,  therefore,  a  wish  to  help  their  city  to  become 
more  prosperous,  better  governed,  clean,  more  beau- 
tiful and  a  more  attractive  place  to  live  in. 

The  library's  share  of  all  this  work  was  also  adver- 
tising, at  least  we  called  it  so,  and  it  paid. 

You  know  Newark  has  begun  all-year  schools  in 
two  of  its  biggest  buildings;  this  being  one  of  the 
first  and  the  most  successful  trials  of  the  plan.  I 
was  in  one  of  the  classrooms  in  August  and  found  the 
children  reciting  a  lesson  on  the  story  of  our  water 
supply  from  sheets  of  information  the  library  had 
furnished.  By  and  by  we  must  spend  a  few  millions 
more  on  our  water  plant.  Those  children  will  surely 
take  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  question. 

Some  one  asked  if  any  of  the  class  used  library 
books.  Nearly  every  hand  went  up.  This  was  in  the 
Italian  quarter. 

Teachers  are  not  yet  well  trained  in  the  high  and 
normal  schools  and  colleges,  which  they  attend  while 
getting  their  equipment  as  pedagogues,  to  know  chil- 
dren's books  or  to  use  a  library.  So  we  wrote  text- 
books on  these  two  subjects  and  have  been  giving  our 
normal  school  students  a  short  course  on  the  latter, 
this  year  to  120  students,  and  are  just  about  to  give  a 
course  to  the  older  students  on  the  former.  Some 
day  all  normal  schools  will  themselves  do  these 
things;  few  do  it  yet.  We  do  it  because  we  think  it 
good  advertising,  in  the  long  run.  The  students  go 
into  the  schools  as  teachers  and  in  turn  teach  the 
children  to  use  good  books — the  library's  books  and 
all  others — and  to  use  them  to  their  profit. 

All  our  work  with  young  people  is  managed  from 

197 


LIBEARIES 

a  special  department  which  has  a  room  and  a  sort  of 
a  bnrean  of  information  for  teachers  in  the  main 
library  building. 

Teachers  need  pictures  in  this  pictorial  age,  and 
Ave  have  nearly  5(I0,0()()  in  the  library,  arranged  like 
a  huge  pictorial  dictionary  under  subjects,  with 
40,000  of  them  conveniently  mounted  and  displayed, 
besides  800  big  colored  pictures,  large  enough  to  be 
seen  across  a  school  room,  to  decorate  the  walls  and 
to  illustrate  subjects  of  study.  Teachers  borrow  the 
smaller  ones  by  tens  of  thousands  and  the  larger  by 
scores. 

In  one  of  our  high  schools  we  have  a  library  and 
a  skilled  librarian.  It  is  one  of  the  best  institutions 
of  its  kind  in  the  country.  We  expect  to  have  similar 
libraries  in  our  two  new  high  scliools  and  in  our 
normal  school's  new  building.  Also  we  expect  to 
liave  libraries  for  community  use  in  many  of  our 
school  buildings  just  as  soon,  and  that  will  be  very 
soon,  as  the  world  accepts  to  the  full  tlie  axiom  that  a 
public  building  shoubl  be  always  in  use. 

For  the  high  scliools  we  print  pamplilet  lists  of 
goo<l  books,  compiled  by  the  teachers,  for  the  pupils 
to  select  their  reipiired  reading  from  every  term,  and 
we  supply  the  books.  1  have  brought  a  few  of  the 
lists.  We  are  almost  as  proud  of  them  as  the  high 
schools  are. 

The  city  did  not  ask  anyone  to  give  it  a  librai'y; 
Init  built  it  for  and  by  itself.  That  is  one  reason  why 
it  is  so  good,  so  we  think.  It  does  not  wish  to  ask 
for  the  gift  of  branch  library  buildings,  so  all  our 
branches  are  in  rented  storerooms,  on  main  business 
streets,  and  are  small,  simple,  and  very  effective. 
Later  we  hope  to  build  two  or  three  branches  to  be 
used  also  as  civic  centers.     AVe  lend  as  many  books 

198 


EELATIOXS  OF  A  LIBRARY  TO  ITS  CITY 

from  some  of  these  little  stores,  which  the  j)eople 
seem  to  think  are  just  as  inviting  as  palaces  built 
with  an  outsider's  money,  as  are  lent  from  any 
elaborate  structures  costing  |100,000  and  over.  They 
advertise  us  very  well. 

The  library  building  was  the  first  piece  of  good 
architecture  the  city  ever  put  up  for  itself.  It  looked 
so  well  and  served  so  good  a  purpose  and  set  so  good 
an  example  that  since  it  was  finished  in  1900  the 
people  have  voted  for  si  good  city  hall,  a  very  good 
and  absolutely  untainted  city  hall,  a  good  court  house, 
good  fire  stations,  good  schools  and  other  good  things 
in  architecture.  One  of  the  notable  things  the  library 
did,  in  the  life  of  this  particular  town,  was  to  set  an 
excellent  and  ver^*  practical  example  in  city  archi- 
tecture. 

To  adorn  the  building  within — it  is  very  simply 
decorated — we  now  and  then  bought  a  picture,  a  vase, 
a  piece  of  bronze  or  marble.  Generous  citizens  added 
to  the  collection.  In  our  spare  rooms  Ave  began  to 
hold  loan  exhibitions  of  art  objects,  displays  of  school 
work,  industrial  exhibits,  modest  Newark  history 
exhibits.  Some  one  gave  us  a  fine  collection  of  min- 
erals, rocks,  soils,  building  stones,  economic  plants, 
etc.  Then  it  seemed  wise  to  form  a  Museum  Asso  • 
ation,  for  which  the  city  bouglit  a  collection  of  ar^ 
objects  which  we  had  borrowed  to  show,  and  almost 
before  we  knew  it  we  had  art  and  science  museum". 
well  established,  modest  and  yet  possessing  already 
more  than  |I0,000  worth  of  property,  growing  rap- 
idly, all  housed  in  the  library's  spare  rooms,  and 
properly  called  its  offspring.  Soon  they  will 
be  so  large  as  to  need  a  building  of  their  own,  which 
the  city  will  surely  furnish. 

These    exhibitions    I    spoke    of    numbered    over 

199 


LIBRARIES 

seveutj-five  in  the  eleven  years  and  drew  over  300,000 
visitors  to  the  library,  so  we  called  them  also  good 
advertising. 

I  said  that  nearly  all  good  mnnicipal  ideas  are 
somewhere  in  print.  The  same  is  true  of  business 
information  and  of  nearly  all  good  business  ideas. 
We  thought  the  library  ought  to  try  to  gather  this 
information  and  these  ideas  and  make  them  accessible 
to  the  people  who  are  making  Newark  what  it  is, 
manufacturers,  merchants,  and  men  engaged  in  insur- 
ance, commerce,  engineering  and  what  not.  So  we 
established  in  a  rented  room,  on  the  ground  floor,  on 
the  principal  office  street,  near  the  center  of  the  city, 
wliat  we  call  a  business  branch.  No  other  public 
library  in  the  country, has  yet  offered  so  conveniently 
to  its  public  so  good  a  collection  of  maps,  business 
and  trade  directories  and  books  and  pamphlets  on 
manufacturing  and  trade  and  business  affairs  as  we 
have  there.     Yet  it  is  only  in  its  infancy. 

We  hope  to  produce  here  in  time  a  library  which 
will  fit  the  needs  of  "the  Newark  tliat  does  things'' 
just  as  closely  as  your  league  library  will  in  time  fit 
tlie  needs  of  ever^^  municipality.  We  have  made  an 
index  of  things  made  in  Newark,  naming  1,200  dif- 
ferent firms  and  telling  what  firms  make  4,000  ditfer- 
ent  objects.  Some  day  we  hope  to  print  it.  Now 
it  is  on  cards  and  open  for  use.  To  get  this  informa- 
tion we  sent  out  several  thousand  letters  to  Newark 
citizens  who  are  makers  of  things. 

This  advertised  the  practical,  business  side  of  our 
resources  very  well;  but  still  did  not  bring  about  as 
great  a  use  of  our  material  as  it  deserved.  So  we 
decided  to  publish  a  journal,  a  monthly,  and  call  it 
the  Newarker,  and  to  have  it,  as  its  advertisements 
said,   "introduce  a  city  to  itself  and  to  its  public 

200 


RELATIONS  OF  A  LIBRARY  TO  ITS  CITY 

library."  We  have  run  it  almost  a  year.  It  has 
articles  on  many  aspects  of  the  city  life,  with  inter- 
esting maps  and  illustrations.  It  is  in  a  measure  a 
"municipal  journal/'  though  run  as  yet  by  one  part 
of  the  city  organization  only.  We  hope  through  it  to 
reach  ultimately  a  good  many  of  the  men  of  our  city 
who  seem  to  think  their  public  library  is  only  for 
readers  of  novels,  philosophy,  art  and  literature,  and 
not  for  men  of  affairs.  I  think  we  shall  succeed.  In 
any  event  we  shall  have  done  another  bit  of  advertis- 
ing of  the  kind  that  is  sure  to  pay  in  the  long  run. 

I  have  brought  for  your  inspection  a  few  copies 
of  this  Newarker,  which  you  are  welcome  to  take 
away. 


201 


THE   PUBLIC   LIBRAKY   AND   PUBLICITY   IN 
MUNICIPAL    AFFAIRS 

rapcr  Read  before  the  New^  York  Lihrarij  Chib, 
March  IS,  WIS 

Oil  this  subject  I  liave  no  theories  to  advance, 
save  this  very  i>eneral  one,  to  Avhich  I  assume  all 
librarians  give  assent : 

''The  librarian  of  a  p\iblic  library  is  that  servant 
of  the  coniniunity  who  has  in  charge  sources  of  infor- 
niation — books  and  journals  of  utility — as  well  as 
works  of  art  in  the  form  of  books  of  literature. 
These  sources  of  infornmtion  should  be  such  as  fur- 
nish facts  about  the  town  or  city  which  supports  the 
library;  not  its  history  only,  by  any  means,  but 
present-day  facts  on  subjects  like  character  of  popu- 
lation, industries,  educational  facilities,  water  supply 
and  sanitary  conditions.  The  books  and  journals  of 
facts  should  include  also  statements  from  experts 
on  problems  of  town  development,  like  those  of  pav- 
ing, street  layout,  policing,  fire  protection,  improve- 
ment of  water  supply  and  extension  of  educational 
facilities." 

If  the  theory  thus  briefly  stated  is  sound,  then 
every  public  library  sliould  have  been  a  bureau  of 
municipal  information  and  municipal  research  and 
a  general  storeliouse  of  civic  knowledge  long  before 
the  so-called  municipal  library  was  ever  mentioned. 
So  much  for  wliat  librarians  should  have  done  and 
did  not  do. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  Amer- 
icans are  facing  to-day  is  that  of  how  to  manage 
towns  and  cities.  There  is  no  short-cut  to  the  solu- 
tion of  this  problem.     New  methods  of  election,  new 

203 


LIBRARIES 

forms  of  ballot,  new  kinds  of  primaries,  commission 
government — these  alleged  remedies  are  not  remedies 
at  all.  The  only  sure  cure  for  social  inefficiency  is 
increase  of  intelligence  and  good  will. 

A  city's  public  library  tries  to  help  this  much- 
needed  growth  of  intelligence  and  good  will.  Libra- 
rians have  usually  taken  on  faitli  the  doctrine  that 
to  read  the  world's  great  books  is  to  grow  in  grace 
and  social  excellence,  and  have  been  satisfied  if, 
through  their  activities,  they  increased  in  their  re- 
spective communities  the  amount  of  use  made  of 
good  literature.  Special  emphasis  has  been  placed 
by  them  on  the  salutary  effect  on  the  American  peo- 
ple of  acquaintance  with  the  world's  classics.  Now, 
I  am  skeptical  of  the  value  of  acquaintance  with  the 
classics  as  an  education  in  good  citizenship  or  as  an 
incentive  thereto.  I  believe  there  is  more  inspira- 
tion to  civic  decency  for  a  cliild  in  the  story  of  how 
his  community  gets  a  sui)ply  of  pure  water  than 
there  is  in  the  best  fairy  tale  ever  devised  or  tlie 
noblest  Teutonic  myth  ever  born. 

A  child  can  be  taught  to  worship,  in  a  measure, 
the  heroes  of  another  country  and  another  time;  but 
that  worsliip  will  not  lead  him  to  refrain  from 
sweeping  the  dirt  from  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  his 
tenement  into  the  street  gutter.  After  imitation  and 
habit — and  he  finds  in  most  American  cities  few  to 
imitate  and  still  fewer  to  help  him  to  good  habits  in 
civic  cleanliness — the  strongest  impulse  to  consider 
his  city's  good  looks  and  general  well-being  is  knowl- 
edge of  the  why  and  wherefore  of  affairs,  like  side- 
walks, streets,  gutters  and  the  cost  of  street  cleaning. 

Good  will  toward  the  community  and  the  wish 
to  serve  it  are  born  of  acquaintance  with  it,  just  as 

204 


THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  AND  PUBLICITY 

affection  for  one's  friends  and  a  desire  to  help  them 
are  born  of  close  intimacy. 

Basing  our  work  on  this  theory,  we  have  in 
Newark  been  able,  largely  through  the  influence  of 
the  public  library,  to  put  to  the  front  a  very  elab- 
orately' conceived  and  elaborately  equipped  enter- 
prise  for   publicity   in   municipal   affairs. 

The  method  was  as  follows :  Beginning  ten  years 
ago,  the  library  accumulated  municipal  information. 
This  information,  if  not  already  in  suitable  form  for 
young  people's  use,  it  digested  and  arranged  and 
simplified  and  issued  on  sheets  for  general  use,  and 
especially  for  the  use  of  children.  With  the  help 
of  teachers,  an  interest  in  this  information  was 
aroused  among  many  of  the  school  pupils.  Munici- 
pal affairs  were  used  as  topics  for  study,  essay  and 
discussion. 

This  work  went  on  for  several  years,  increasing 
slowly  in  extent  all  the  time.  Finally  it  took  definite 
shape  at  the  hands  of  the  educational  authorities. 
There  was  then  jiublished,  in  1912,  a  "Course  of 
study  on  the  city  of  Newark,"  for  use  in  all  the 
schools  of  the  citj^,  from  the  first  to  the  eighth  grade, 
written  by  Mr.  J.  Wilmer  Kennedy,  assistant  super- 
intendent of  public  schools.  This  was  the  first  com- 
plete thing  of  its  kind,  so  far  as  my  knowledge  goes, 
in  the  history  of  public  education.  Accompanying 
the  "Course"  itself,  were  many  supplementary  leaf- 
lets and  appropriate  maps. 

We  look  upon  this  as  the  most  valuable  contri- 
bution to  publicity  in  municipal  affairs  that  the 
Newark  Library  has  had  anything  to  do  with.  Only 
time  will  tell  whether,  being  pushed  in  the  schools, 
it  will  produce  the  effect  hoped  for. 

205 


LIBRARIES 

If  it  is  successful,  all  future  generatious  of  New- 
arkers  will,  in  their  xevj  cliildliood,  begin  to  learn 
their  city;  will  know  how  it  has  grown,  why  it  has 
grown  as  it  has,  what  it  has  accomplished,  in  what  it 
has  failed,  what  it  needs,  and  how  the  things  it  needs 
can  best  be  obtained.  lieing  thus  informed,  they 
will  not  onh'  vote  intelligently  once  a  year,  but  will 
also  act  intelligenth',  and  with  some  affection  for  the 
city,  on  every  one  of  the  364  days  between  elections. 

The  titles  of  the  topics  in  this  course  of  study 
and  of  the  accompanying  leaflets  will  help  one  to 
understand  its  scope  and  character.  A  few  of 
them  are:  Literary  landmarks  of  Newark,  Men  and 
women  of  Newark,  Juvenile  courts.  Shade  trees  and 
parks,  Noise  in  cities,  Transportation,  ^lilk  supply. 
Playgrounds. 

A  somewhat  different  form  of  publicity  in  public 
and  quasi-public  affairs  has  been  carried  on  for  sev- 
eral years  in  our  main  library,  but  more  especially 
in  what  we  call  our  Business  Branch.  At  this  branch 
we  not  only  keef>  on  hand  the  kinds  of  information 
and  the  kinds  of  literature  that  we  are  using  in  our 
campaign  for  the  promotion  of  city  interest  among 
young  jDeople;  we  have  also  collected  there  a  large 
mass  of  nmterial  having  to  do  with  what  may  be 
called  the  private  interests  of  Newark  citizens,  their 
business  affairs. 

On  the  municipal,  or  governmental  side,  we  in- 
clude the  publications  of  the  city  of  Newark,  the 
county  of  Essex  and  the  state  of  New  Jersey,  the 
publications  of  a  good  many  otlier  cities  on  those 
subjects  in  wliich  Newark  is  just  now  particularly 
interested,  and  many  publications  of  state  and  na- 
tional governments,  ^laps  of  all  kinds  supplement 
this  material,  especially  maps  of  Newark  and  Essex 

206 


THE  PUBLIC  LIUUARY  AND  PUBLICITY 

county,  showing  highways,  trolley  lines,  water  sup- 
ph',  sewage  equipment,  fire  stations,  police  stations, 
schools,  voting  districts  and  scores  of  other  things. 

A  vertical  file  contains  newspaper  clippings, 
pamphlets,  programs,  reports  from  special  depart- 
ments and  societies,  on  hundreds  of  civic,  social  and 
school  subjects.  This  material  furnishes  definite 
information  about  ordinances,  departmental  organ- 
ization and  general  city  conditions.  All  statements 
are  accompanied  with  references  to  sources. 

Our  periodical  files  give  us  advertisements  of 
public  contracts,  county  court  caleiidar,  building 
permits,  new  incorporations,  conventions  to  be  lield 
in  Newark,  quotations  of  local  securities,  bankrupt- 
cies, sheriff's  sales,  real  estate  transfers  and  mort- 
gages, excise  licenses,  automobile  licenses  and  bank 
statements.  We  have  ten  real  estate  atlases  cover- 
ing Newark,  New  York  and  vicinity. 

With  this  material  we  have  gathered,  as  I  have 
said,  things  of  interest  to  men  who  are  engaged  in 
business  of  every  kind.  We  collect  business  litera- 
ture, finding  its  field,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  almost  unex- 
plored by  any  library  agencies  whatever. 

We  made  quite  a  careful  study  of  industrial 
Newark.  We  sent  circular  letters  on  the  follow-up 
system  to  about  2,000  of  the  city's  manufacturers. 
We  were  able,  from  tliese  replies,  to  make  quite  a 
complete  index  to  Newark's  industries. 

On  the  work  of  discovering  and  purchasing  and 
arranging  for  use  this  municipal  and  general  city 
improvement  literature  and  tliis  business  material, 
the  library  spent  a  very  considerable  sum.  The  use 
made  of  it  has  amply  justified  the  expenditure. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  what  one  may  call 
literary  efficiency,  it  can  be  said  that  this  kind  of 

207 


LIBRARIES 

literature  is  uiiicli  more  effective  thau  is  tlie  "liter- 
ature of  the  studeut,''  so-called.  I  mean  material 
on  the  outer  margin  of  the  field  of  belles-lettres,  like 
volumes  of  comments  on  Dante  or  Shakespeare. 

To  explain  further :  If  one  speaks  of  "resources 
for  students"  in  American  libraries,  you  think  at 
once  of  history,  literature,  philology,  philosophy,  art, 
archaeology,  science  and  applied  arts,  and  the  men- 
tal picture  is  of  long  sets  of  proceedings  of  societies 
and  of  rare  and  ancient  volumes.  Slowly,  with  some 
reluctance,  and  only  after  vigorous  suggestion,  does 
one  think  of  a  "student"  as  one  who  is  busied  with 
yesterday's  books  and  this  morning's  journals  and 
the  advance  sheets  of  pamphlets  not  jat  issued.  As 
all  admit  that  libraries  should  be  helpful  to  students, 
and  as  students  are  not  easily  conceived  of  in  terms 
of  newspaper  clippings  and  yesterday's  journals  and 
this  morning's  pamphlets  and  of  directories  of  com- 
merce and  the  trades,  it  is  not  strange  that  librarians 
have  been  slow  in  spending  monej'  and  labor  on  these 
things. 

Our  civic  and  business  material  has  been  fairlj^ 
well  used.  We  feel  sure  it  would  be  used  more  if  it 
were  more  widely  known.  The  trustees  finally  de- 
cided, at  my  suggestion,  to  try  to  promote  knowledge 
of  the  things  the  library  possesses  which  are  espe- 
cially useful  to  our  citizens  by  the  p\d)lication  of  a 
journal.  As  this  journal  was  to  appear  in  an  indus- 
trial city,  and  as  it  Avas  to  exploit  civic  and  indus- 
trial sources  of  information,  it  was  decided  to  make 
it  the  opposite  of  academic — to  devote  its  pages 
largely  to  civic  and  industrial  news  and  the  discus- 
sion of  city  problems.  It  was  hoped  that  in  this 
waj'  it  wonbl  win  gradually  a  fairly  wide  range  of 

208 


THE  PUBLIC  LllUiAKY  AND   PUBLICITY 

readers,  and  those  readers  iK)tiii<;'  that  their  public 
library  publishes  a  journal  full  of  municipal  and  busi- 
ness news,  would  come  to  realize  that  the  library 
possesses  this  kind  of  news — and  then  would  be 
induced  to  use  it. 

It  was  not  supposed  that  our  journal,  now  fifteen 
months  old,  would  make  any  notable  contributions 
to  the  literature  either  of  business  or  of  city  govern- 
ment. It  continues,  on  the  one  hand,  the  kind  of 
work  already  spoken  of  which  led  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  course  of  study  on  Newark  in  the  schools, 
and  on  the  other  hand,  the  kind  of  work  that  led  to 
the  acc\imulation  of  our  large  mass  of  Newark  busi- 
ness information.  Its  basic  puri)ose  is  ahvays  to 
advertise  the  library  to  the  citizens.  It  is  a  new 
thing,  quite  new.  The  question  of  what  information 
it  shall  give  and  what  subjects  it  shall  discuss  is  a 
difficult  one,  to  be  met  afresh  every  month. 

It  has  been,  on  the  side  of  subscriptions,  moder- 
ately successful  only.  The  number  of  copies  usually 
printed  is  1,500.  It  has  distributed  2,000,  3,000  and 
6,500  on  specific  occasions. 

One  cannot  say  positively  that  it  is  doing  the 
work  that  it  was  hoped  it  might  do;  but  we  believe 
that  it  is. 

I  notice  a  decidedly  'literary"  tendency  among 
librarians,  and  a  very  natural  tendency  it  is.  When 
reference  is  made,  in  conversation  or  in  public  meet- 
ings, to  the  business  side  of  life  and  the  library's 
relation  to  it,  some  eager  friend  of  culture  usually 
goes  through  the  appropriate  incantations,  calls  up 
the  ghosts  of  the  classics,  and,  in  their  name,  exhorts 
his  fellows  not  to  forget  that,  after  all,  the  world  is 
made  good  by  doing  good,  and  that  the  soul  is  more 

209 

14 


LIBRARIES 

than  broad  and  butter,  and  tlie  "the  light  that  never 
was  on  sea  or  land''  is  more  important  than  a  good 
supply,  at  a  fair  price,  of  electric  current. 

1  have  no  particular  objections  to  this  method  of 
justifying  one's  conservation,  of  making  still  more 
comfortable  one's  comfortable  adjustment  to  things 
as  t\\ej  are.  I  will  say,  however,  that  I  would  be 
very  sorry  if  I  missed,  in  a  discussion  of  this  or  of 
any  similar  presentation  of  the  utilitarian  work 
which  awaits  all  librarians  in  public  libraries,  allu- 
sions to  spirituality,  vitality,  culture,  breadth,  liter- 
ature of  power,  and  other  things  familiar  to  those 
who  deal  in  flai^-doodle. 


210 


MAKING    THE    LIBRARY    A    BUSINESS    AID 

Town  Development,  March,  1913 

Do  you  know  your  own  public  library?     If  you 
do  not,  you  should,  and  for  this  reason: 

You  are  interested  in  the  development  of  your 
own  city,  else  you  would  not  be  reading  a  magazine 
called  Town  Development.  Therefore  you  frequently 
want  to  get  information  about  your  city.  You 
want  to  know,  for  example,  why  the  streets  are  not 
kept  cleaner.  To  help  you  to  answer  this  ques- 
tion you  want  to  know  how  much  your  city  spends 
per  year  in  cleaning  its  streets.  You  want  to  know 
how  much  this  amounts  to  per  square  yard.  You 
want  to  know  whether  the  price  per  square  yard 
your  city  pays  each  year  for  cleaning  its  streets  is  as 
much  as,  or  more  than  or  less  than  other  cities  pay 
whose  streets  are  kept  much  cleaner  than  the  streets 
of  your  city. 

Again,  you  want  to  know  why  the  paving  of  your 
main  business  thoroughfares  is  always  in  such  poor 
condition;  and  so  you  want  to  know  how  the  money 
spent  in  paving  and  repairs  for  streets  in  your  city 
compares  with  the  money  spent  on  similar  work  in 
other  cities. 

You  want  to  know  why  some  of  your  school  houses 
are  built  close  to  trolley  lines,  so  that  teachers  and 
pupils  lose  about  a  fifth  of  all  their  school  hours 
because  they  cannot  hear  one  another  talk.  And  you 
wonder  if  other  cities  do  the  same  foolish  and  expen- 
sive thing.  You  want  to  know  also  about  freight 
rates,  rates  of  fire  insurance,  the  number  and  cost  per 
year  of  saloon  licenses,  and  the  city's  sanitary  con- 
dition, the  prospects  for  improved  sewage  disposal, 

211 


LIBRAKIES 

the  character  of  your  moving  picture  shows,  and  a 
score  of  other  things,  some  of  them  connected  with 
the  welfare  of  jour  home  and  family',  some  having  to 
do  with  the  development  of  your  business,  and  some 
being  simj^h'  questions  of  general  town  improve- 
ment in  which  as  a  well-bred  citizen  you  are  deeply 
interested. 

Now,  you  should  know  your  own  public  library 
because  it  will  supply  you  with  answers  to  questions 
like  those  just  suggested.  Almost  every  public 
library  in  the  country  is  eager  to  be  of  use  in  a 
practical,  everyday  way  to  the  citizens  of  its  com- 
munity. If  it  has  not  the  kind  of  information  you 
are  after,  it  would  like  to  get  it.  In  most  cases  it 
would  have  gotten  that  kind  of  information  long 
ago,  if  it  had  been  asked  to  do  so. 

It  is  difficult  for  a  library  to  decide  to  spend  time 
and  money  in  getting  information  that  would  be 
useful  to  the  business  men  of  its  community,  to  its 
active  town-development  citizens,  unless  it  is  quite 
sure  that  the  time  and  money  thus  spent  will  not  be 
wasted  for  lack  of  use. 

You  may  say  that  your  library  should  first  get 
the  information  its  citizens  need  for  the  better 
building  of  their  private  business  and  for  the  better 
understanding  of  public  affairs,  and  then — should 
advertise  widely  Avliat  it  has. 

AYell,  that  is  what  the  Public  Library  of  Newark 
has  tried  to  do.  It  has  perhaps  gone  farther  than 
almost  any  other  library  in  this  work  of  gathering 
sources  of  civic  and  commercial  information  and 
putting  tliat  information  where  the  city's  active,  com- 
mercial citizens  can  get  it  and  advertising  the  fact 
that  the  informatiou  is  in  a  convenient  jdace  and  can 
be   had  for  the  asking.     It  probably   has  not  done 

212 


THE  LIBRARY  A  BUSINESS  AID 

more  in  this  line  than  most  libraries  would  be  quite 
willing  to  do,  if  they  were  asked.  You  should  know 
your  own  library  and  ask  it  to  help  you  and  your 
fellow  citizens  in  promoting  your  business  and  devel- 
oping your  city. 

The  main  building  of  the  Newark  library  is  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  city's  center.  The  New- 
ark business  man  does  not  need  to  go  to  the  main 
building  to  get  his  information.  He  steps  just  around 
the  corner  from  the  city's  traffic,  commercial  and 
office  center  to  a  branch  called  a  business  branch. 

This  branch  is  much  more  like  a  store  than  a 
library.  It  is  on  the  sidewalk  level,  and  has  a  big 
show  window  where  books,  maps,  charts,  globes,  signs 
aTid  pictures,  often  changed,  make  as  interesting  a 
display  as  does  any  show  window  in  the  street.  In- 
side is  one  large  room,  with  more  floor  space  than 
many  large  towns  have  got  in  the  Carnegie-built 
marble  palaces  which  they  stooped  to  ask  for — 3,100 
square  feet.  The  room  is  high,  well  lighted,  quiet 
and  inviting.  It  is  open  every  week-day  from  9  a.m. 
to  1)  p.m. 

Its  resources  include  13,000  books,  maps  of  more 
than  1,000  cities,  towns,  states  and  countries  of  all 
parts  of  the  world,  700  directories,  which  cover  many 
thousand  different  towns  and  countries  and  scores  of 
occupations;  the  latest  publications  of  cities,  coun- 
ties and  states  on  subjects  of  interest  to  Newark ;  and 
especially,  of  course,  the  official  publications  of  New- 
ark and  New  Jersey,  ninety  house  organs,  sixty  trade 
union  papers,  ninety  business  periodicals,  sixty  mu- 
nicipal and  local  development  journals;  many 
volumes  of  statistics ;  a  collection  of  the  catalogues  of 
3,000  Newark  manufacturers,  very  fully  indexed;  a 
good   collection    of   modern    fiction   and   of   general 

213 


LIBRARIES 

literature;  and  a  special  telephone  service  which  con- 
nects it  in  an  instant  with  the  lending  and  reference 
center  of  the  main  library,  or  with  its  technical  or 
school  or  art  or  tietion  or  order  departments  or  with 
the  central  ottice;  and — a  messenger  service  throngh 
which  it  can  get  from  the  main  library's  coUectioa  of 
180,000  volumes,  in  thirty  minutes  if  need  be,  any- 
thing a  patron  calls  for  which  the  branch  itself 
cannot  supply. 

A  citizen  steps  into  the  business  branch  and  makes 
it  known  tliat  he  wants  the  latest  book  on  town 
planning,  or  shop  management,  or  business  organi- 
zation or  motor  boats.  When  found,  either  here  or 
at  the  main  library,  he  asks  if  he  can  take  it  home. 
He  is  told  that  he  need  only  sign  a  little  slip  of 
paper  to  identify  him,  and  he  can  take  home  that 
book  and  a  dozen  others,  if  he  wishes,  and  keep  them 
for  a  month. 

Then  he  says :  "I  am  interested  in  some  timber 
land  in  western  Oregon;  I'm  going  to  send  a  man  out 
there  and  want  to  know  how  he  can  reach  it,  what 
tlie  country  looks  like  and  what  towns  are  near  by."" 
The  branch  librarian  offers  him  a  1913  calendar  of 
Oregon  witli  a  full  description  of  the  county  in  Ore- 
gon in  which  his  timber  is  situated.  Down  from  tlie 
central  library  soon  comes  a  United  States  govern- 
ment map  of  the  region  he  asks  about,  showing  it  in 
great  detail,  being  one  of  nearly  3,000  such  nmps  on 
file  at  the  library. 

Then  he  says  tliat  he  has  recently  invested  in  a 
brewery  in  soutliern  New  Jersey,  and  wants  to  see 
all  the  bills  concerning  the  making  and  sale  of  malt 
liquors  which  have  been  introduced  in  the  last  few 
days  into  the  State  Legislature.     The  librarian  liands 

214 


THE  LIBRARY  A  BUSINESS  AID 

him  all  the  bills  thus  far  introduced  and  seats  him 
at  a  table  to  look  them  over. 

Then  he  says  that  the  great  trunk  sewer,  which  is 
to  carry  off  the  sewage  of  a  dozen  nearb}^  cities,  in- 
cluding Newark,  is  to  go  near  his  factory,  so  he  has 
been  told,  and  can  he  see  an  exact  maj)  of  its  route? 
The  librarian  hands  him  the  last  published  report  of 
the  Passaic  Valley  Sewerage  Commission  with  the 
route  of  the  sewer  plainly  marked. 

Being  pleased  with  his  success  thus  far  and  still 
having  wants  unsatisfied,  he  says  he  wishes  a  design 
for  an  emblem  or  a  decoration  of  some  kind,  suitable 
for  a  letter  head  or  a  catalogue  cover,  one  which  shall 
suggest  his  business,  which  is  that  of  making  wheels 
for  automobiles.  Another  'phoned  message  to  the 
main  library's  collection  of  350,000  pictures,  designs 
and  photographs,  brings  soon  a  dozen  designs,  sOme 
in  black  and  white  and  some  in  colors,  in  all  of  which 
a  wheel  forms  part  of  the  composition. 

Almost  every  successful  business  man  has  a  small 
collection  of  books,  pamphlets  and  periodicals  in  his 
own  office.  This  he  makes  use  of  and  usually  thinks 
that  he  has  at  hand  information  enough  for  all  his 
purposes.  He  does  not  realize  that  he  also  possesses, 
in  a  public  institution  which  he  pays  money  to  help 
maintain,  another  library,  which  he  can  easily  use, 
very  much  larger  and  very  much  fuller  in  nearly  all 
the  kinds  of  information  he  needs  than  he  has  himself. 
This  other  library  of  his  has  gathered,  or  could  gather 
if  he  asked  it  to  do  so,  more  information  than  most 
men  of  affairs  have  in  their  own  offices,  even  on  their 
own  lines  of  business,  or  at  least  on  certain  aspects 
of  it.  Why  does  he  not  use  this  other  library  of  his,, 
as  well  as  his  own? 

215 


LIBRARIES 

The  fact  is  that  few  active  Americans  have  ever 
learned  how  much  lielp  may  lie  for  tliem  in  books  ami 
pamphlets  and  jonrnals  and  mai)s  and  charts  and 
diagrams,  in  the  publications  of  societies  and  associ- 
tions,  in  the  directories  of  cities  and  towns,  in  the 
cataloiiues  of  manufacturing  establishments.  All 
this  kind  of  material  and  much  else  the  modern 
American  public  library  is  ready,  as  I  have  said,  to 
purchase  and  classify  and  index  if  it  but  moved  to 
do  so  by  the  demands  for  it. 

If  I  may  be  a  little  personal  for  a  moment  I  will 
explain  that  this  business  and  civic  service  idea  in 
public  library  work  first  came  to  me  as  worth  while 
nearly  twenty  years  ago,  when  I  was  managing  a 
public  library  in  Denver,  Colorado.  I  found  it  not 
difficult  to  select  and  purchase  such  books  and  jonr- 
nals as  would  please  school  children,  teachers,  wom- 
en's clubs,  readers  of  history,  biography,  travel  and 
literature  and  students  of  society,  science  and  philos- 
ophy. I  found  it  also  not  difficult  to  create  such  an 
atmosphere  of  general  good  will  and  public  service 
and  freedom  of  restraint  in  the  library  as  to  make  it 
attractive  to  the  kinds  of  readers  I  have  mentioned. 

But  then  I  noted  that  the  vast  majority  of  busi- 
ness men  in  the  community,  men  in  stores,  factories, 
insurance  and  real  est^ite  offices,  and  the  like;  own- 
ers, operators,  managers,  promoters,  public  officials, 
agents,  contractors,  builders,  foremen,  bench  workers, 
mechanics,  etc. — I  noted  that  most  of  these  men  of 
affairs  never  used  the  library  or  called  on  it  onlv 
for  novels  and  an  occasional  book  of  history,  travel 
and  the  like. 

As  I  looked  over  the  whole  field  of  print,  tlie 
whole  output  of  the  printing  press,  I  became  more 

216 


THE  LIBRARY  A  BUSINESS  AID 

and  more  strongly  impressed  with  the  vast  extent  of 
the  accnrate  statistical  and  expert  information,  gath- 
ered at  great  expense  of  brains,  diligence  and  money, 
and  set  down  in  print,  which  touches  closely  on  all 
those  activities  which  we  may  loosely  designate  as 
"business." 

I  noted,  also,  that  very  few  even  of  the  successful 
men  of  business,  had  more  tlian  a  very  slight  knowl- 
edge of  the  great  extent  of  this  material,  and  that 
fewer  still  made  any  practical  use  of  more  than  a 
minute  fraction  even  of  so  much  of  it  as  directly 
illuminated  their  own  special  businesses. 

I  noted  on  the  one  hand,  for  example,  tliat  the 
young  carpenter  made  little  use  of  the  educational 
opportunity  that  awaited  him  in  books  and  journals 
on  carpentry,  building,  architecture  and  design;  on 
the  other  hand,  that  heads  and  managers  in  big 
commercial,  manufacturing  and  financial  concerns, 
cared  little  for  the  knowledge  and  suggestions  of 
experts  set  forth  in  books  and  journals  on  their 
several  callings. 

To  illustrate  my  point  a  little  further;  great 
manufacturing  enterprises  in  this  country  have 
wasted  vast  sums  in  experiments  and  ventures  wlvfch 
a  careful  study  of  the  American  and  foreign  litera- 
ture of  their  subject  would  have  told  them  to  keep 
in  their  pocket  books. 

And  again,  right  now  in  Newark,  we  are  clipping 
from  the  daily  United  States  Consular  Reports, 
which  every  large  producer  and  sales  agent  should 
have  laid  on  his  desk  every  morning,  items  that 
relate  to  Newark  products,  pasting  them  on  postals 
and  mailing  them  to  local  makers  of  those  products, 
and — are    surprising    them    with    the    information! 

217 


LIBKAKIES 

Truly,  while  libraries  are  thinking  too  little  of  being 
useful  to  business,  the  man  of  business  is  thinking  too 
little  of  tlie  things  he  can  find  in  print  in  his  library. 

The  result  of  my  Denver  cogitations  was  the  decis- 
ion that  wlien  the  opportunity  could  be  found,  or 
made,  I  would  tr^'  to  open  in  a  large  city  a  business 
branch  in  that  city's  business  center. 

The  opportunity  came  in  Newark.  We  began  in  a 
very  small  room  and  did  little  more  than  stock  it  with 
the  usual  line  of  library  books.  As  rapidly  as  the 
income  of  the  library  permitted  we  increased  the 
stock  of  books  and  moved  into  larger  rooms,  until, 
about  three  years  ago  we  secured  our  present  x)lace. 

The  "business''  side  of  our  work  in  the  branch  we 
were  then  able  to  push  more  seriously.  Our  purpose 
was  to  gather  so  much  material,  of  the  kind  that  can 
be  useful  to  the  active  citizens  of  a  large  manufactur- 
ing and  commercial  city,  that  those  citizens  would 
feel  almost  compelled  to  use  it,  would  feel  that  they 
were  not  running  their  institutions  wisely  if  they  did 
not  use  it. 

In  collecting  this  material  we  found  great  difficul- 
ties. We  knew  about  what  kind  of  printed  material 
Ave  wanted,  but  we  did  not  know  the  names  of  the 
specific  books,  and  we  could  not  find  any  one  who 
could  tell  us.  We  discovered  here,  that  is,  a  field  of 
print,  the  field  of  business  literature,  wliicli  no  one 
had  exjdoited  and  nia])ped,  not  even  tlie  librarians 
of  the  country  who  have  done  a  very  great  deal  in 
the  past  forty  years  to  make  easy  the  selection  and 
purchase  of  books  in  most  departments  of  knowledge. 

We  Avent  on  as  best  Ave  could,  searching  out  and 
buying  and  indexing,  rather  groping  our  way,  and 
collecting  gradually  a  unique  and  most  useful 
mass  of  business  information.     We  did  not  gather, 

218 


THE  LIBRARY  A  BUSINESS  AID 

and  have  not  yet,  more  of  this  kind  of  information 
than  some  of  onr  largest  libraries  have;  bnt  we  seem 
to  Iiave  been  the  first  to  put  it  together  in  hand3^  form 
and  set  it  down,  with  competent  attendants,  in  the 
heart  of  a  city's  business  district. 

While  gathering  and  arranging  these  business 
things  we  advertised  them,  widely.  The  use  made  of 
them  increased.  It  has  increased  until  we  must 
either  find  larger  quarters  soon,  or  else  devote  all  tlie 
space  we  now  have  exclusively  to  the  "business''  side 
of  the  work  of  this  branch. 

In  trying  to  promote  in  the  community  the  use  of 
the  communit3''s  utilitarian  literature  in  this  branch 
we  were  more  and  more  impressed  Avith  the  similarity 
between  this  kind  of  promotion  or  advertising  and 
that  of  a  commercial  enterprise.  We  had  noted  the 
"house  organs"  published  by  many  large  firms,  and 
the  idea  occurred  to  us  that  if  the  Newark  library 
were  to  publish,  in  place  of  the  lists  of  new  books 
with  literary'  notes  and  minor  items  of  library  news 
such  as  make  up  the  bulletins  of  most  libraries,  a 
"house  organ,"  devoted  to  Newark  town  improvement 
and  to  advertising  the  library's  commercial  and  civic 
resources,  we  might  gain  the  attention  of  the  tax- 
payers and  induce  them  to  take  more  profits — by  daily 
helpful  use — from  their  free  public  library. 

We  did  not  start  the  Newarker  to  make  money. 
It  is  a  city's  advertisement  to  itself  of  its  own  excel- 
lencies and  opportunities,  and  especially  of  its  own 
library's  resources.  It  is  growing  in  favor.  If  the 
business  branch  is  as  good  a  thing  as  we  believe  it  to 
be,  then  its  child  and  promoter,  the  Newarker  will 
prove  to  be  a  good — as  it  is  the  first — public  library 
house  organ. 


219 


LIBRARIOLOGY 

The  yewarkev,  April,  1913 

The  greater  part  of  this  paper  has  been  reprinted  by  the  Syndicate 
Trading  Company  of  New  York  for  distribution  by  boolisellers. 

A  daily  paper,  a  nickel  weekly  and  a  10-cent 
monthlj^ — these  make  a  library.  It's  a  small  one,  yet 
it  contains  more  reading  than  any  "average  man"  in 
all  Europe  had  in  his  honse  dnring  the  first  fifteen 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era!  But  that  is  no  reason 
why  the  average  man  of  to-daj'  should  think  such  a 
collection  is  a  good  enough  library  for  him  and  his 
family.  In  fact  he  does  not.  He  buys  a  few  books. 
It  would  pay  him  to  buy  more.  Here  are  notes  on 
how  to  practice  successfully  the  pleasant  art  of 
getting  one's  own  library. 

1.  Buy  Some  Books 
Everyone  should  buy  books.  Bj^  that  I  mean  that 
every  person  of  intelligence,  able  to  read  ordinary 
print  with  some  ease,  will  find  that  the  habit  of  own- 
ing books  and  having  them  about  him  will  give  him 
more  i^leasure  in  the  long  run  than  any  other  habit 
he  can  form.  Onlj"  a  few  buy  and  read  books,  to  be 
sure ;  but  then,  only  a  few  get  out  of  life  all  the 
pleasure  they  are  capable  of  getting.  So  the  small 
number  of  the  bookish  does  not  prove  anything  except 
that  the  wise  are  always  few ! 

2.     But  if  I  Don't  Bead? 

But  you  may  say  you  rarely  read  in  books,  and  so 
why  buy  any? 

Well,  to  this  there  are  several  answers.  One  is 
that  books  make  fine  furnishings.  They  do  good  to 
the  room  they  stand  in.  They  give  your  house  an  air 
and  you  are  obliged  to  breathe  that  air!     Then,  too, 

221 


LIBRAKIES 

they  are  tempting.  Who  knows  when  you  will  yield 
to  the  temptation  to  enjoy  books  if  they  are  always 
at  hand?  And,  again,  there  are  family  and  friends; 
perhaps  they  will  bless  3'ou  for  giving  them  a  chance 
at  pleasures  Avhich  you  miss  yourself.  And,  again, 
buying  books  is  a  joyful  task,  and  you  cannot  give 
your  mind  to  it  for  ever  so  short  a  time  each  week 
or  month,  when  you  select  the  next  volumes  for  your 
shelf,  Avithout  getting  a  subtle  pleasure  much  beyond 
that  of  choosing  a  new  cravat  or  another  picture  or 
a  new  brand  of  cigars.  And,  once  more,  all  book 
buyers  are  bookish,  even  if  thej  never  read  in  their 
books  a  single  line.  You  meet  followers  of  book 
fads,  first  editions,  American  history,  sixteenth  cen- 
tury poetry  or  what  not,  who  will  tell  you  they  buy 
but  do  not  read.  Don't  believe  them.  Tliey  mnj  not 
read  what  they  collect ;  but  you  may  be  sure  they  have 
their  own  private  bookish  tipples,  in  which  they 
quietlj'  indulge  and  out  of  wliich  the}'  get  a  mild  but 
penetrating  literary  intoxication. 

But  here  are  reasons  enough.  The  point  is  proven. 
It  pays  to  buy  books. 

3.     What  Books  Shall  I  Buy? 

Buy  what  you  like.  It's  the  same  rule,  you  see,  as 
the  Great  rule  about  Reading!  Often  one  knows  the 
kinds  of  books  he  likes,  when  he  reads  them ;  but  does 
not  know  how  to  find  more  of  that  kind. 

This  trouble  it  is  easy  to  get  'round  by  asking  tlie 
public  library.  There  you  will  say  that  you  like  this 
book  and  that  and  the  other,  and  that  you  want  to 
find  more  of  the  same  kinds.  The  library'  makes  a 
pretty  good  guess  at  what  is  Avanted,  and  sets  out  for 
you  a  dozen  or  a  score  or  a  hundred  volumes  for  you 
to  taste  and  choose  from ;  or  sends  them  to  your  home 

222 


LIBRARIOLOGY 

for  you  to  look  over  at  your  leisure.  In  this  way  you 
buy  quite  safely,  and  so  do  not  cumber  your  shelves 
with  books  that  are  not  in  your  line. 

Or,  you  may  say  you  want  books  of  such  a  kind 
that,  if  you  read  them  you  will  be  posted  on  certain 
lines  you  are  interested  in.  Here  the  library's  task 
is  easier.  It  can  give  you  names,  authors,  publishers 
and  prices  of  the  best  books  on  the  subjects  you  have 
in  mind,  and  can  tell  you  quite  accurately  which  are 
elementary,  which  are  complete,  which  are  accurate 
but  dry,  which  are  general  but  interesting,  and,  if  the 
subject  is  one  with  two  sides  to  it,  which  are  the 
best  books  on  each  side.  Then  you  buy  what  you 
think  you  need. 

4.     The  Abundance  of  Good  Lists 

If  the  library  is  not  handy  for  a  visit,  then  call  it 
up  on  the  'phone  or  wa4te  a  letter,  and  ask  for  lists. 
The  library  can  show  you,  or  lend  to  you  if  you  call, 
or  send  to  you  if  you  write,  lists  of  a  hundred  kinds. 
Some  mention  50,000  volumes,  arranged  in  groups  on 
every  subject  under  the  sun,  with  notes  of  description 
and  with  prices.  Others  are  shorter,  down  to  a  list 
of  the  ten  latest  books  on  the  Panama  Canal  or  on 
Producer  Gas  Engines,  or  the  Social  Life  of  the 
Egyptians  3,000  B.C.,  or  on  Paving,  or  Flying  Ma- 
chines or  the  Life  of  Richard  Wagner.  Some  name 
the  best  picture  books  for  children  who  haven't 
learned  to  read,  or  the  best  books  for  adventurous 
bo3^s,  or  for  lively  girls  or  for  the  Young  Man  who 
hasn't  Time  to  go  to  College,  or  for  the  reader  of 
detective  stories  and  of  thrilling  adventures,  or  what 
you  will.  Name  the  kind  of  list  you  want  and  the 
library  can  produce  it — that  is  what  it  is  for. 


223 


LIBRARIES 

5.     Shall  I  Buy  Many  Books  at  Once? 

Sometimes,  yes.  Suppose  yon  have  moved  into  a 
<;,ood-sized  house  from  tlie  cramped  (juarters  you  have 
always  lived  iu ;  suppose  the  children  are  coming  to 
the  reading  age ;  suppose  your  business  is  a  little  less 
pressing  and,  in  your  evenings,  you  are  a  little  less 
weary,  why,  then  is  the  time  to  buy  books  b}'  the 
yard.  You  knoAV  what  are  the  subjects  you  want  to 
read  about,  and  so  does  your  wife.  Both  of  you 
know  the  kinds  of  novels  you  enjoy.  Also  you  are 
sure  3'ou  want  the  children  to  see  on  the  shelves  and 
to  handle  and  look  into  and  get  acquainted  with  the 
good  old  books  that  they  later  hear  intelligent  i)eople 
mention,  that  they  will  find  mention  of  in  their  read- 
ing, and  that  they  will  be  meeting  in  their  studies 
as  they  go  through  school  and  college.  In  such  a 
case  the  selection  is  easy,  and  to  buy  a  thousand  books 
in  the  first  winter  would  not  be  extravagant  or 
foolish. 

G.     Shall  I  Get  a  Big  Dictionary? 

When  the  time  comes,  yes.  But  first  get  books 
that  you  or  your  family  or  both  like  to  read.  If 
there  are  children  about  you  will  find  they  use  dic- 
tionaries in  school,  and  you  will  Avish  to  keep  ahead 
of  them  by  having  a  pretty  good  dictionary  at  liome. 
If  the  family  has  the  habit  of  talking  about  words  and 
their  exact  meaning  and  how  to  i)ronounce,  get  a 
dictionary,  surely ! 

But  you  can  begin  with  quite  a  small  one.  Some 
of  the  small  ones  are  very  good  and  vastly  interesting 
to  look  into. 

At  the  library  you  can  see  all  the  big  ones  and 
many  of  the  small  ones  and  can  learn  about  others. 
BuA'  the  kind  that  suits  your  needs.     A  big  one  is 

224 


LIBKARIOLOGY 

often  just  a  Imrtleii  to  a  man,  in  the  way,  and  never 
used. 

7.  Shall  I  Buy  an  Encyclopeulv? 

If  you  are  the  encyclopedia  kind  of  a  man,  3'es. 
And  when  the  children  begin  to  pass  the  ten-year 
mark  you  should  have  one  for  them  to  pull  down 
and  handle  as  they  will.  But  it  is  easy  to  waste  good 
book  money  on  an  encyclopedia.  There  are  many 
kinds,  and  the  best  one  for  you  is  the  one  that,  among 
those  3'ou  can  afford,  you  Avill  use  most.  Some  are 
for  young  peoi)le,  some  are  for  students,  some  are  for 
average  i)eople  with  small  incomes,  some  are  for  the 
rich.  In  thousands  of  homes  are  thousands  of  non- 
fitting  encyclopedias  taking  up  good  shelf  room  that 
entertaining  novels  might  much  better  occupy. 

The  library  not  onl^'  has  good  encyclopedias  large 
and  small,  it  also  has  much  information  on  sizes,  kinds, 
bindings,  and  cost ;  some  of  it  found  in  carefully 
Avritten  books  on  the  subject.  Ask  the  library's  ad- 
vice  before  you   buy. 

8.  Shall  I  Buy  "Complete  Works''? 
No.  Buy  the  books  you  want  of  any  given  author, 
and  no  more.  You  need  not  buy  twenty  volumes  by 
one  writer  for  the  sake  of  getting  the  three  that  are 
all  you  care  to  read.  The  Complete  Works  Habit 
shows  its  effects  on  too  many  homes  already.  Rows 
of  all  that  Brown,  Jones,  Robinson,  Smith  and  other 
great  authors  ever  Avrote,  not  omitting  Avhat  is  worth- 
less and  including  often  his  private  and  useless  letters 
and  a  life  by  a  commonplace  friend — these  glare 
through  the  glass  doors  of  their  cases  in  thousands 
of  homes,  and  declare  their  unused  uselessness  by 
their  bright  and  shiny  look.  In  few  homes  are  read 
the  complete  works  of  anybody. 

15 


LIBRARIES 

Sometimes  the  best  editions  can  be  bought  in  sets 
only;  but  in  most  cases  you  can  buy  just  the  books 
you  wish  of  any  -writer  in  just  the  style  and  price 
that  suit  your  eyesight,  taste  and  pocketbook. 

y.     A\'iiAT  Shall  I  Say  to  Ijook  Agents? 

A  very  good  rule  is  to  say  that  you  buy  all  your 
books  at  the  stores.  Another  is  to  say  that  you  don't 
talk  book  buying  at  home.  Another,  that  you  never 
bu3'  on  tirst  look  or  half  looks,  and  that  if  he  will 
send  to  you  the  complete  thing  he  has  to  sell  and  leave 
it  with  you  for  a  week,  you  will  give  him  a  written 
decision.  Another  is  that  his  book  will  soon  be  on 
sale,  and  much  cheaper,  second-hand  in  the  book- 
stores. This  is  true  of  90  per  cent  of  the  book  agent's 
wares. 

Another  is  that  you  buy  only  after  taking  advice. 
Then  call  up  the  public  library  on  the  'phone  and 
ask  if  the  books  offered  are  the  books  you  need. 

Traveling  agents  have  persuaded  many  to  buy 
books  who  would  never  have  bought  them  otherwise, 
and  in  this  way  they  have  been  rather  helpful.  Rut 
they  almost  never  have  anything  that  you  cannot  get 
cheaper  at  a  store.  Most  of  the  things  they  offer 
are  not  what  you  really  care  for.  Nearly  all  their 
"Fine  Editions"  are  poor  imitations  of  tlie  real  thing. 

10.     Ah!  the  Second-hand  Rook  Store  I 

If  you  really  want  to  decorate  your  home  witli 
some  "Fine  Looks  Rooks,''  then  go  to  a  good  second- 
hand book  seller,  like  our  own  Charles  Dressel,  ami 
there  you  will  Hud  scores  of  grandly  beautiful  "sets" 
which  the  "man  who  wants  a  glass  case  full  of  fine 
books  in  his  parlor"  bought  tlirough  a  ])ersuasive 
traveling  agent,  and  then  in  due  course  sold  to  our 
friend  for  a  song  as  useless  lumber. 

226 


LIBKARIOLOGY 

At  this  same  shop  are  also  to  be  found  good 
editions,  sane,  sensible,  book-looking  books  in  sets,  of 
those  anthors  whose  complete  works  you  feel  you 
need. 

The  department  stores  have  in  recent  years  taken 
over  the  traveling  agent's  wares,  especially  since  the 
recent  disclosures  as  to  the  real  value  of  some  of  the 
so-called  de  luxe  books ;  and  there  you  can  find  sets  of 
every  degree  of  excellence  and  at  fair  prices — often, 
indeed,  at  prices  ridiculously  low. 

Treat  the  book  agent  kindly;  wish  him  well  in 
what  is  usually  a  perfectly  proper  business ;  but  tell 
him  you  now  buy  your  books  at  stores. 

11.     Which  are  the  Books  for  Me? 

You  speak  of  choosing  your  friends.  You  mean 
that  as  you  meet  new  people  and  come  to  know  them 
you  naturally  pick  out  those  who  appeal  to  you,  who 
don't  bore  you,  who  help  you  to  pass  a  pleasant  even- 
ing now  and  then,  who  have  something  new  to  say, 
who  help  you  to  see  things  differently  and  make  life 
more  entertaining.  Y'ou  don't  pick  these  friends  on 
sight,  and  you  don't  select  them  on  somebody's  recom- 
mendation. You  get  to  know  them  first,  and  then 
hold  to  them  if  you  like  them. 

Find  your  own  books  in  the  same  way.  The  pro- 
cess is  easier  with  books  than  it  is  with  men  and 
women.  Of  books  you  can  get  quite  careful  descrip- 
tions, from  which  you  can  often  tell  which  of  them 
you  will  like.  Then  it  is  much  easier  to  examine 
a  book  than  it  is  a  possible  new  friend.  The  book  is 
all  there,  in  sight.  The  new  and  promising  acquaint- 
ance may  tomorrow  show  you  a  side  of  his  nature 
that  will  make  you  wish  never  to  see  him  again. 

From  the  public  library  you  can  get  a  package 
of  books  sent  to  your  home,  books  that  you  and  the 

227 


LIBRARIES 

library  have  aj^ieed  may  suit  you.  These  you  can 
look  over  at  your  leisure.  If  any  prove  to  be  of  your 
kind,  well  and  good.     If  not,  you  can  try  another  lot. 

You  pick  your  friends  out  of  those  who  live  and 
work  much  as  you  do.  You  will  find  the  books  you 
want  to  read  in  much  the  same  wa}'. 

Of  course,  novels  take  care  of  themselves.  Poetry 
3'ou  want  or  j^ou  don't  want,  and  for  the  present  that 
ends  it.  Of  essays  you  get  enough  in  your  daily 
paper's  editorials.  But  if  now  you  have  not  the  book 
buying  habit  at  all  and  think  you  ma^^  like  to  work 
into  it  on  some  special  lines,  where  begin? 

12.     You  Work  at  Something?    Buy  Books  on 
THAT  Something 

Start  in  on  your  own  business.  Whatever  it  is  it 
has  an  interesting  history;  there  is  romance  con- 
nected with  it  somewhere,  surely,  and  probably  also 
art,  and  ver^'  likely  politics  and  war  and  strange 
adventures. 

For  example,  shoes.  There  are  museums  of  shoes. 
There  are  liistories  of  shoes  and  books  about  slioes 
and  famous  and  learned  cobblers  and  shoe-makers. 
All  the  long  storj  of  the  invention  and  development 
of  protection  for  the  feet  is  full  of  curious,  entertain- 
ing and  amazing  items. 

And  the  literature  to-day  of  leather  and  of  all 
the  other  materials  that  go  into  shoes  and  of  the 
machines  that  make  them  and  of  their  distribution 
through  the  trade — of  all  this  the  literature  includes 
liundreds  of  books  of  every  conceivable  kind,  sci- 
entific, technical,  commercial,  biographical,  historical. 
If  you  are  in  shoes,  try  a  few  of  these  books. 

Tlie  same  facts  and  the  same  suggestions  apply 
to  every  calling. 

228 


LIBRARIOLOGY 

13.  From  Daily  Papers  to  House  Books 
You  must  read  the  daily  papers;  then  you  need 
to  read  a  few  magazines  of  the  popular  kind  to  get 
short  stories  of  modern  life  and  to  keep  up  on  inven- 
tions, discoveries  and  what  not;  then  you  must  look 
over  your  own  trade  papers,  one  or  two  or  even  more 
—and  there  is  still  time  left  for  buying  and  reading 
a  few  good  books  on  your  own  calling. 

Next,  perhaps  first,  get  some  books  useful  in  the 
house.  Books  on  cooking,  furniture,  decoration, 
music,  dress,  entertainments,  games,  hygiene,  and, 
if  tliere  are  children,  on  their  health  and  training, 
on  their  sports  and  pastimes — on  all  these  and  a  score 
of  other  like  subjects  there  are  encyclopaedias  large 
and  small,  handbooks,  manuals,  guides,  compendiums, 
treatises  and  histories.  Of  these  household  books, 
many  of  them  most  entertaining  and  most  of  them 
helpful,  how  few  are  found  in  homes !  Even  of  cook 
books  the  supply  is  usually  limited!  If  in  doubt, 
then,  about  how  to  fill  your  new  book  shelves  begin 
with  your  own  calling  and  go  on  to  the  every  day 
demands  of  the  house. 

14.     Branch  Out  and  Take  in  the  Two  Americas 
As  for  books  on  life  and  the  world  in  general 

here  are  two  good  ways  to  begin : 

First,  sit  down  with  this  list  and  consider  whether 

books  on  any  of  these  subjects  would  interest  you : 

NeAvark  history. 
New  Jersey  history. 
New  Jersey  politics. 
New  Jersey  industries. 

New  Jersey  birds,  insects,  trees,  shrubs,  flow- 
ers, animals. 

229 


LIIIRARIES 

New  Jersey  rocks,  soils,  minerals,  mines. 
New  Jersey  farms  and  farming. 
New   Jersey   railroads,   canals,    water   com- 
merce. 
New  Jersey  roads. 
New  Jersey  maps. 

Ill  all  of  these  and  on  the  same  snbjects  concerning 
the  United  States,  yon  can  find  at  the  library  books, 
docnments,  pamphlets  and  pictnres,  many  of  them 
pnblished  by  the  state  or  by  the  federal  government 
and  free  for  the  asking. 

Then  look  over  this  list: 

Onr  foreign  trade. 

The  Panama  Canal. 

Mexico,  Central  America,  Pern,  Brazil;  and 
the  development  and  trade  relations  witli 
onr  conntrj'  of  these  and  other  Sonth 
American  countries. 

Canada,  its  growth  and  onr  trade  with  it. 

The  far  northwest  and  the  wonderfnl  devel- 
opment of  Oregon  and  Washington. 

The  Hndson,  the  Ohio,  the  ^lississipyn,  the 
Colnmbia,  the  Great  Lakes,  the  romance 
of  their  discovery  and  the  wonders  of 
their  commerce. 

The  story  of  wheat,  of  corn,  of  cotton  and 
the  rivalries  of  the  world's  great  grain 
])rodncing  conntries. 

The  tariff. 

Onr  navy,  onr  army. 

On  a  thousand  things  like  these,  abont  whicli  yon 
find  brief  notes  in  the  papers  every  day,  the  lil)rary 
has  many  books,  some  short,  some  long,  some  statis- 
tical,  some   narrative  and   fascinating.     On    any   of 

230 


LIBRARIOLOGY 

these  subjects,  all  of  Avbicli  come  quite  close  to  every 
man  who  works  for  what  he  gets,  the  library  has 
books  ill  abundance,  and  the  best  of  them — or  all  of 
them — it  will  bring  out  for  you  to  see;  or  it  will 
take  you  to  the  shelves  where  they  stand,  or  will  send 
a  dozen  to  your  home  for  you  to  look  over  at  your 
ease. 

Some  of  them  you  will  surely  wish  to  own. 

15.  Then  Take  in  the  World 
Go  a  little  further  with  the  list,  if  nothing  so  far 
named  has  seemed  to  appeal  to  you.  Perhaps  you  say 
that  your  newspapers  and  magazines  give  you  all  you 
care  to  know  on  subjects  like  these.  That  may  be 
true.  But  a  trial  of  a  book  b}^  a  man  who  knows 
what  he  Avrites  about,  will  convince  you  that  after  all 
most  journals  only  touch  the  outside  of  things.  They 
cannot  pretend  to  do  more.  Their  editors  give  you 
a  little  of  many  things  and  not  much  of  any  one, 
except  local  news. 

Flying  machines,  dirigible  balloons,  and  sub- 
marines. 
Great  fortunes,  trusts  and  labor  unions. 
Socialism,  communism,  anarchism. 
Painting,    cubists,    futurists,    sculpture,   art 

museums,  architecture. 
The  history  of  the  alphabet,  of  writing,  of 

printing. 
Printing  today,  its  marvelous  machines  and 

how  their  product  grows. 
How  we  think. 
The  mind  and  the  body. 
Materialism,  pantheism,  monotheism,   prag- 
matism. 
Bergsonism,  spiritism,  monism,  positivism. 

231 


LIBRARIES 

Education  in  Egypt,  Greece,  Rome,  China. 
Public  schools   in  America,   England,   Ger- 
many, France. 
The  origin  of  language. 
What  we  mean  by  science. 
Astrology,  necromancy,  alchemy,  chemistry. 
Myths,  legends,  fairy  tales,  superstitions. 
Fire,  electricity,  light,  heat,  power. 

And  these  items  are  only  the  merest  suggestion 
of  the  thousands  of  toi)ics  on  which  your  library  can 
furnish  you  many  books  and  tell  you  of  many  others. 

Take  Egypt  for  example;  you  know  something  of 
its  history,  of  the  Nile  and  its  dams,  of  the  Pyramids, 
of  its  temples,  tombs  and  sphinxes;  of  its  English 
government  and  its  recent  growth.  Leaving  all  these 
one  side,  here  is  a  little  book  on  what  Egypt  did  for 
civilization,  brief,  fascinating,  astonishing  and  reli- 
able. They  were  doing  great  things  in  Egypt  6,000 
years  ago ! 

You  can,  under  this  first  method  of  finding  a 
starting  point  for  book  buying,  either  go  over  lists 
like  those  given  above,  or  you  can  go  over  in  your 
mind  the  topics  you  find  in  your  daily  and  Sunday 
papers  and  jot  down  a  few  on  which  you  think  you 
may  like  to  see  a  few  of  the  best  and  latest  books. 
Send  this  list  to  the  library  and  later  call  and  see 
what  tlie  people  there  can  show  you. 

IG.  Another  Way  of  Finding  Youk  Books 
Another  way  of  finding  your  best  book  buying  sub- 
jects:  Get  lists  of  some  of  the  series  of  small  books 
on  all  kinds  of  subjects  that  are  now  being  published 
in  England  and  America.  Single  volumes  cost, 
bound,  only  25  to  50  cents.  The  several  series  include 
books  on  hundreds  of  topics.     There  are  "literary'- 

232 


LIBRARIOLOGY 

books  in  plenty— novels,  stories,  poetry,  plays,  essays, 
letters,  hnmorj!— as  well  as  brief  histories,  biographies 
and  travels  and  good  short  books  on  science,  religion, 
art,  philosophy  and  society. 

Others  are  on  snbjects  like  these,  each  written  by 
a  man  who  knows: 

A  World  Atlas  (20  cents). 

Evolntion 

Heredity. 

Science  of  the  Stars. 

Hypnotism. 

Bergson. 

Synonyms. 

Wellington  and  Waterloo. 

The  Natnre  of  Mathematics. 

Theosophy. 

Syndicalism. 

Cooperation. 

Woman's  Snffrage. 

Principles  of  Electricity. 

Look  at  these  lists  yonrself,  and  pass  them  abont 

in  the  home. 

Some  in  the  family  are  jnst  now  keen  on  boats, 
toy  flying  machines,  tennis,  football,  wireless  teleg- 
raphy, school  hygiene,  housing,  photography,  the 
stage,  motor  cars,  gas  engines,  moving  pictures,  dress, 
rugs,  laces.  Won't  they  ask  you  to  consider  buying  a 
book  or  two  on  their  pet  subjects? 

17.     The  Fundamental  Fa:mily  Library 

Now  you  have  a  library.     It  is  yours  and  your 

family's,  and  it  tits  you  all  like  an  old  glove,  because 

you  have  put  into  it  what  you  wanted,  and  not  what 

somebody  said  you  ought  to  want.     You  have  bought 

233 


LIBRARIES 

according  to  your  own  and  your  family's  taste,  edu- 
cation, calling  and  amusements.  Your  library  con- 
tains the  worlds  best  books — for  you ;  at  least  it  does 
so  as  far  as  you  have  gone.  Onlj'  prigs  and  pretend- 
ers will  find  fault  with  it,  even  if  it  has  not  one  of 
the  Old  ^Masters  you  were  tortured  with  in  school 
days  and  have  joyfully  avoided  ever  since. 

18.     A  Possible  Family  Library 

But  perhaps  you  don't  wish  to  plunge  into  book 
buying  on  your  own  ignorance  and  dissipate  the  igno- 
rance by  a  touch  of  experience.  Then  all  you  need 
to  do  is  to  take  the  collection  we  call  ''First  Aid  to  a 
Reading  Family,"  which  is  all  carefully  described  on 
another  page,  and  proceed  to  buy  it.  As  the  descrip- 
tive note  at  the  top  of  that  list  says,  this  is  a  very 
good  lot  of  books.  If  you  cannot  or  will  not  make 
your  own  selection,  then  this  is  what  you  need.  It  is 
not  only  made  up  of  good  books  itself,  it  suggests 
other  good  books.  It  was  planned  to  promote  book 
owning  as  well  as  book  reading.  You  and  your  faniil3' 
will  use  it,  and,  using  it,  will  soon  find  it  too  small. 
It  is  not  a  complete  library;  complete  libraries  are 
most  depressing.  It  was  particularly  ]»lanned  to 
disclose  its  incompleteness.  The  books  in  it  will 
demand  more  books  at  your  hands. 

19.     How  Ar.ouT  the  Great  Classics? 

Well,  what  about  tliem?  Have  you  read  them? 
Have  you  read  any  of  them?  Did  you  like  them?  If 
you  bought  a  hundred  of  tliem  would  you  hurry  home 
every  night  to  read  them? 

You  must  ansAver  these  (luestions  yourself.  If 
you  like  them,  then  they  are  youv  books,  and  you 
bought  them  long  ago.     If  you  are  very,  very  literary 

234 


LIBRARIOLOGY 

you  have  already  read  them  whether  yon  liked  tliem 
or  not.  If  you  wish  to  know  how  some  of  the  great- 
est of  our  fellow  men  looked  at  life,  and  hoAV  they 
described  what  they  saw  and  felt  and  thought,  then 
you  must  read  some  of  the  World's  Greatest. 

But  don't  forget  that  many  of  your  greatest  fellow 
men  never  wrote  at  all!  They  did  things,  and  said 
nothing  for  publication.  ( It's  the  same  way  to-day !) 
And  while  it  is  true,  probably,  that  the  writing  of 
great  things  in  a  great  way  is  the  greatest  of  all 
the  things  men  have  done,  these  greatest  of  all  things 
— the  World's  Classics — may  not  enlighten  you,  may 
not  give  you  joy,  would  only  bore  you — and — there 
is  a  very  fine  and  delightful  and  amazing  and  absorb- 
ing lot  of  life  awaiting  you  quite  outside  of  the  covers 
of  the  Truly  Great. 

Get  your  own  Fundamental  Family  Library  or 
our  First  Aid  to  a  Reading  Family  and  use  it  and 
see  that  what  I  have  said  is  true. 

20.     On  the  Other  Hand 

A  short  plea,  which  could  be  made  longer  and 
stronger,  for  some  acquaintance  with  the  Great  Old 
Books  is  worth  adding. 

A  few  of  the  old  books  were  so  well  written  or 
told  of  such  interesting  things  or  were  so  closely 
(.onnected  with  popular  mythologies  and  religions  or 
with  great  leaders  or  reformers,  or  warriors,  or  ad- 
venturers, or  with  great  national  events,  that  they 
came  to  be  read  or  talked  about  by  many,  and  espe- 
cially by  those  who  wrote.  Katurally  those  who  wrote 
spoke  of  the  beliefs,  the  superstitions,  the  events  and 
the  persons  which  are  written  of  in  these  old  books, 
and  naturally  also  the  later  writers  often  quoted  the 
very  words  themselves  of  these  now  familiar  books. 

235 


LIBRARIES 

They  did  this  partly  because  they  had  nothing  to  say 
themselves,  and  could  onh'  sny  again  what  liad  been 
said  better  before;  i)artly  because  they  hoped  that 
by  quoting  in  this  way  from  earlier  books  their  read- 
ers would  take  them  to  be  learned;  parth'  because 
they  wished  by  quotations  to  bolster  up  their  own 
opinions ;  partly  because  they  could  make  their  points 
clearer  by  citing  what  they  thought  were  familiar 
examples;  and  partly  because  they  truly  found  the 
incidents  and  the  things  said  in  the  earlier  books  to 
be  interesting  in  themselves,  genuinely  human  and 
wonderfulh'  and  universally  true  to  life  and  very 
admirably  told.  Thus  it  came  about  that  books  of 
all  kinds,  save  perhaps  tlie  dryest  descriptive  ones, 
are  constantly  referring  to  things  in  the  Old  Classics. 
Now,  if  you  know  enough  about  the  old  books  to  get 
the  meaning  of  these  countless  references  to  them  in 
the  new  ones,  you,  of  course,  understand  the  new  ones 
better.  Then,  too,  it  seems  to  be  true  tliat  we  get 
very  great  pleasure  from  our  recognition  in  reading, 
just  as  we  do  from  recognitions  of  scenery,  cities, 
friends  and  acquaintances;  and  if  one  recognizes  and 
understands  the  allusions  in  old  books  and  the  quota- 
tions from  them  in  what  he  reads,  he  gets  much  i)h'as- 
ure  therefrom.  As  to  the  direct  value  to  us  of  what 
the  older  writers  said,  that  is  another  matter.  That 
value  is  often  greatly  overestimated,  and  especially 
by  writers  who  have  no  force  or  originality  of  tlieir 
own  and  give  us  nothing  but  a  useless  dilution  of 
quotation  and  reference  from  the  writers  they  Imve 
absorl)ed,  mixed  Avith  maudlin  praise  of  them  and 
artless  prattle  of  their  own. 

Don't  read  books  about  great  books.  You  were 
told  al)out  some  of  them  and  read  some  of  them  in 
scliool  days.     If  you  care  for  them  now,  read  them, 

236 


LIBEARIOLOGY 

by  all  means.     In  any  event  pnt  a  few  of  tliem  on 
your  shelves  for  the  children  to  see  and  read  if  they 

will. 

21.     Beautiful  Books 

Beware  of  the  agent  Avith  the  very  fine  and  very 
special  books.  They  are  usually  neither  fine  nor  spe- 
cial. In  thousands  of  homes,  where  what  is  really 
needed  and  what  was  never  bought,  is  the  Funda- 
mental Family  Library,  or  our  First  Aid  Collection, 
are  rows  of  shiny,  showy,  begilded,  neglected  "sets," 
which  cost  ten  times  the  money  it  would  take  to  buy 
a  real,  live  and  daily  used  and  greatly  enjoyed  and 
charmingly  bethumbed  lot  of  books. 

A  good  rule  in  all  book  buying  is  this :  if  it  looks 
"fine,'"  don't  buy  it.  Another,  already  given,  is,  if  it 
comes  in  sets,  don't  buy  it.  And  if  it  comes  at  the 
hands  of  an  agent  and  is  both  fine  and  in  a  set, 
shun  it. 

There  are  beautiful  books.  It  is  not  difficult  to 
learn  to  know  tliem  when  you  see  them.  The  library 
can  show  you  quite  a  lot  of  them,  and  gladly  will. 

If  you  learn  to  know  them  when  you  see  them, 
then  you  will  take  pleasure  in  them,  and  when  you 
can  do  that,  it  is  worth  your  while  to  buy  one  now 
and  then. 

Eight  after  printing  was  invented  465  years  ago, 
a  few  very  beautiful  books  were  printed.  This  was 
because  the  early  printers  naturally  tried  to  produce 
with  type  and  a  press  as  beautiful  work  as  centuries 
of  practice  had  taught  the  copyists  to  make  with  the 
pen.  They  could  afford  to  take  plenty  of  time  to 
the  work,  for  if  they  printed  only  a  few  pages  in  a 
day,  that  was  far  more  than  the  copyists  could  do. 
But  printing  soon  became  common;  then  the 
printers  had  to  compete  for  speed  and  quantity  just 

237 


LIBRARIES 

as  they  do  now.  The  result  was  that  after  about 
the  year  1500  only  a  few  very  carefully  printed  and 
very  skillfully  desii»ned  books  were  published  until 
quite  recent  years. 

In  this  country  to-day  are  being  printed  some  of 
the  finest  volumes  ever  seen.  It  would  be  worth 
your  while  to  look  at  a  few  of  them.  If  yon  find 
they  give  you  pleasure,  yon  should  buy  one  or  two, 
or  more  if  your  purse  permits.  They  are  works  of 
art,  just  as  are  good  paintings  and  good  sculptures. 

22.     What  Kind  of  a  Bookcase? 

The  best  is  the  plainest,  of  wood  to  suit  the  room, 
not  shiny,  and  without  glass  or  curtains  or  filigrees 
of  any  kind.  Those  in  the  stores  are  usually  cheaper 
than  those  made  to  order.  P>ut  the  store  kind  is 
often  too  fancy. 

The  books  should  show ;  not  tlie  case.  The  nearer 
the  case  comes  to  being  invisible  the  better.  Very 
inexpensive  cases  can  be  made  to  order  and  stained 
or  painted  to  suit  the  room.  Tlius  made  they  will 
be  not  only  modest  and  unobtrusive,  not  blatant  and 
glaring  like  most  polished-oak-and-glass-door  cases, 
but  also  will  fit  the  places  in  the  room  where  you 
wish  them  to  stand. 

In  your  new  house,  build  no  cases  into  the  walls. 
Thus  made  thej  are  expensive,  are  usually  not  well 
adapted  to  their  purpose,  and  you  are  almost  sure 
to  wish  to  change  tliem  witliiu  a  few  months  and 
find  it  impossible  to  do  so  without  great  expense. 
Get  a  few  books,  then  get  a  small  case  of  the  size  to 
fit  a  convenient  space  to  liold  tlieni.  When  you  need 
it,  get  another  case.  Low  cases  all  around  a  room 
with  a  t()i>  shelf  for  bric-a-brac  are  sometimes  good. 
But    usually    a    l)etter   plan   is   to   get   cases   nearly 

238 


LIBRARIOLOGY 

seven  feet  liigli,  rather  narrow  and  then   pnt  them 
just  where  they  best  tit. 

23,     Shall  I  Take  Any  Journals? 

Yon  have  answered  tlie  qnestion  yonrself,  for 
yon  bny  and  read  from  one  to  half  a  dozen  news- 
papers every  day,  and  they  are  in  some  respects  tlie 
greatest  of  all  jonrnals. 

Then  of  conrse  yon  get  one  or  two  of  yonr  trade 
jonrnals,  yon  bny  and  take  home  an  occasional  pop- 
ular monthly,  and  at  home  yon  find  at  least  one  of 
the  jonrnals  for  women.  But  these  are  not  enongh 
to  give  yon  and  the  family  the  pleasure  yon  are  all 
entitled  to  get  from  periodicals.  This  is  the  day  of 
periodical  publications.  They  cover  every  conceiv- 
able topic,  and  among  them  are  many  in  which  men 
and  women  Avho  each  know  more  about  at  least  one 
subject  than  any  one  else,  write  about  that  subject. 
Of  this  kind  of  writing  there  is  very  little  in  our 
newspapers.  The  newspapers  have  not  yet  come  to 
the  point  where  they  hire  specialists  to  do  their 
reporting.  And  specialists  do  not  often  write  for 
the  popular  weeklies  and  monthlies. 

Our  newspapers  get  the  news;  our  commercial 
papers  do  the  same  in  their  field;  our  technical 
jonrnals  are  good;  our  journals  of  general  knowl- 
edge of  books,  art,  science,  exploration,  and  general 
world-life  are  not  what  they  should  be  in  either 
number  or  quality. 

Therefore,  in  the  list  of  journals  we  have  added 
to  the  "First  Aid  to  the  Reading  Family"  collec- 
tion you  will  find  several  from  England  and  one  or 
two  from  France  and  Germany.  They  are  very  good. 
You  need  them;  without  them  you  cannot  keep  up 
with  the  world  you  live  in. 

239 


LIBRAEIES 

First  Aid  to  the  Eeading  Family 

Tliis  is  the  list  of  Itooks  and  magazines  spoken  of 
in  the  preceding  text.  It  is  a  very  good  lot  of  books. 
Put  these  books  on  yonr  shelves  and  let  the  jonrnals 
named  come  in  every  week  or  every  month  and  you 
and  your  family  can't  help  reading. 

Tliis  is  not  the  set  of  books  you  Avould  pick  out 
if  you  went  to  work  to  choose  and  buy  for  yonrself. 
But,  as  the  text  expressly  says,  this  collection  is 
named  for  the  average  intelligent  aiul  bnsy  man  who 
wants  to  begin  on  a  library  of  his  own,  bnt  does  not 
wish  to  take  the  time  to  do  the  picking  and  choosing 
himself. 

Some  will  say  that  no  one  wishes  to  bny  his 
library  ready  made;  that  each  man  is  different  from 
all  others,  and  ought  to  buy  the  books  that  suit  him. 
But  while  that  is  precisely  what  the  text  says,  isn't 
it  true  that  you  buy  a  ready-made  library  every 
day  when  you  buy  your  daily  paper?  If  it  is  so 
important  that  you  pick  all  your  own  and  your 
family's  reading,  why  don't  you  edit  a  newspaper  for 
use  in  your  own  home? 

Once  more,  these  are  good  books,  and  will  make 
a  good  beginning  for  the  ^Model  Incomplete  and  Al- 
ways Growing  Library  you  onght  to  liave  started 
long  ago. 

GENERAL,  BOOKS 

Encvclopaedia  of  Etiquette.  Holt.  World  Almanac.    $.25 

$2  Webster'.s  home,  school  and  of- 
Appleton's   New   Practical   Cyclo-  fice   dictionary.     $2.50 

pedia.     6v.     $18 

THE    CITY    AND    THE    CITIZENS 

City    Government    in    the    United  How  the  Other  Half  Lives.    Riis. 

States.     Goodnow.     $1.25.  $1.25 

Socialism.     Spargo.     $1.50  Efficient  Democracy.    Allen.    $1.50 

New  Worlds  for   Old.   Wells.    $1.50  ChansinK   America.     Ross.     $1.20 

The    Spirit    of    Social   Work.     De-  The  Spirit  of  Youth  and  the  City 

vine.    $1  Streets.     Addams.     $1.25 

240 


LILJKAIUOJ.OGY 


MAKING    AND    SAVING    MONEY 

Every-day    Business    for   Women.  Pay-day.     Henderson.     $1.50 
Wilbur.    $1.25  Pin     Money     Suggestions.      Bab- 

Money      and       Banlving.       Wliite.  coclv.     $1 


GARDENING    AND    NATURE 


Our  Native  Trees.    Keeler.   $2 
Principles    of    Vegetable    Garden- 
ing.   Bailey.    $1.50 
Wild   Flowers.    Parsons.    $2 


Nature    Study   and    Life.     Hodge. 

$1.50 
Outlines    of    the    Earth's    History. 

Shaler.    $1.75 


GAMES,    PASTIMES    AND    OCCUPATIONS 


Model    Aeroplanes.     Collins.     $1.20 
Electrical    Handicraft.      St.    John. 

$1 
How  to  Judge  of  a  Picture.    Van 

Dyke.    $.60 
Wireless     Telegraphy.      St.     John. 

$1 
A   B   C   of   Motoring.     Krau.sz.     $1 
Why    i\Iv    Photographs    are    Bad. 

Taylor.     $1 
Practical    Bridge.     Elwell.      $1.50 
Small    Boat   Sailing.   Knight.   $1.50 
Book    of    Foot-ball.     Camp.     $2 


The  Wilderness  Hunter.  Roose- 
velt.    $2.50 

The  Party  Book.    Fales.    $2 

Conjuring.     Kunard.     $2 

The  Book  of  Camping  and  Wood- 
craft.    Kephart.     $1.50 

Boston  Cooking  School  Cook 
Book.     Farmer.     $2 

Boy  Scouts  of  America.  Thomp- 
son.   $.50 

The  American  Boy's  Handy  Book. 
Beard.    $2 


HISTORY    AND    TRAVEL 


General    History.     Myers. 
Short     Historv     of     the 

People.     Green.    $1.20 
Historv     of     the     United 

Channing.     $1.40 
"Boots      and      Saddles." 

$1.50 
The  Oregon  Trail.  Parkman.  $1.50 
The    Balkan   War.     Gibbs.     $1.20 
Handbook  of   Alaska.     Greely.     $2 


$1.50 
English 


States. 
Custer. 


Russia  in  Europe  Asia.  Goodrich. 
$1.50 

The  Story  of  the  Panama  Canal. 
Cause.     $1.50 

A  Tenderfoot  with  Peary.  Borup. 
$2.10 

Turkish  Life  in  Town  and  Coun- 
try.   Garnett.    $1.20 

The  Last  of  the  Plainsmen.  Grey. 
$1.50 


STORIES  FOR  OLDER  PEOPLE 


The  Street  Called  Straight.    King. 

$1.35 
The   Red   Button,     Irwin.    $1.30 
The  Magic   Skin.     Balzac.     $.35 
Buried   Alive.     Bennett.     $1 
The   Rosarv.     Barclav.     $1.35 
The     Mill     on     the     Floss.     Cross. 

$.35 
Vanity  Fair.    Thackeray.    $.35 


The  Talisman.     Scott.    $.35 
Jane    Eyre.     Nicholls.     $.35 
Ben-Hur.    Wallace.     $1.50 
The   Virginian.     Wister.     $.75 
Scarlet    Letter.     Hawthorne.     $.35 
The    Three    Musketeers.     Dumas. 

$.35 
David   Copperfield.     Dickens.     $.35 


STORIES    FOR    YOUNGER    PEOPLE 


Two      Years      before     the     Mast. 

Dana.     $.75 
Robinson    Crusoe.     Defoe.     $.75 
Treasure   Island.     Stevenson.     $.75 
Tom        Brown's        School        Days. 

Hughes.     $.75 
Last    of    the    Mohicans.      Cooper. 

$.60 
Canoemates.     Munroe.     $1.25 
The       Lakerim       Athletic       Club. 

Hughes.     $1.50 
Swiss     Family     Robinson.      Wyss. 

$.75 
Fables.     Aesop.     $.88 


Homeric  Stories.  Iliad  and  Od- 
yssey.    $1.25 

The  Adventures  of  Tom  Sawyer. 
Clemens.    $1.75 

Ivanhoe.     Scott.     $.40 

Hans  Brinker;  or.  The  Silver 
Skates.     Dodge.     $.75 

Little    Women.     Alcott.      $1.50 

Arabian   Nights.     $.35 

Fairy  Tales  from  Hans  Christian 
Andersen.     $.35 

Wonder  Book:  Tanglewood  Tales. 
Hawthorne.     $.35 

The  Age  of  Fable.    Bulfinch.    $.60 


241 


16 


LIBRARIES 


FOR    THE    PARENTS    AND    THE    CHILDREN 


The    Care    of    the    Body.     Wood- 
worth.     $1.50 
TelHng   Bible    Stories.     Houghton. 

$1.25 
Talks   on   Teaching.     Parker.     $1 
Education    by    Plays    and    Games. 

Johnson.    $1.10 
Red   Letter  Poems.     $.50 
Poetical    Works.     Whittier.     $.50 
Poetical  "Works.    I>ongfellow.    $.50 
Pageant    of    English    Poetry.     Ed. 

Leonard.     $.50 
Poems  of  Tennyson.    $.50 
Tempest.     Shakespeare.     $.56 
Macbeth.    Shakespeare.     $.56 


of     the     Future. 
Baskets.     Wliite. 


The      Children 

Smith.     $1 
How    to    Make 

$1 
Children's  Gardens.    Miller.     $1.20 
How   to   Study.     McMurry.     $1.25 

Merchant  of  Venice.  Shake- 
speare.   $.56 

American  Literature.  Richard- 
son.    $.35 

English   Literature.     Brooke.     $.35 

Sketch  Book.     Irving.     $.75 

Essays.    Emerson.    $1 

Gentle   Reader.     Crothers.     $1.25 


MAGAZINES    AND    PAPERS 


Life.    New  York,  N.  Y.    $5 
Collier's.     New  York,   N.  Y.     $2.75 
Saturday    Evening    Post.      Phila- 
delphia,   Pa.     $1.50 
Ladies'    Home   Journal.     Philadel- 
phia,  Pa.    $1.50 
The  Sphere.    London,   England.    $9 
L'lllustration.    Paris,  France.    $10 


The  National  Geographic  Maga- 
zine.   Washington,  D.  C.    $2.50 

Popular  Mechanics.  Chicago,  111. 
$1.50 

Illustrirte  Zeitung.  Leipzig,  Ger- 
many.   $8 

Die  Kunst.  Munich,  Germany. 
$6 


242 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SPECIAL  LIBRARY 

The  Neivarker^  January,  1914 

The  character  of  libraries,  their  scope  and  the 
methods  of  managing  them  depend  ultimately  on  the 
character  and  quantity  of  things  intended  to  be  read. 
When  things  to  be  read  were  written  upon  stone, 
whether  in  hieroglyphics  or  in  sculptures  or  in  orna- 
ments of  buildings,  libraries  were  unknown.  When 
things  to  be  read  were  impressed  upon  bits  of  clay 
which  were  dried  or  baked,  and  preserved  as  records, 
collections  of  those  records  were  made  and  kept,  and 
libraries  began.  When  things  to  be  read  were  writ- 
ten upon  paper  or  any  of  the  many  kinds  of  material 
which  were  used  before  paper  was  invented,  it  was 
clearly  wise  to  collect  them,  store  them  safely  and 
arrange  them  conveniently  for  use.  Things  to  be 
read  thus  gathered  and  housed  formed  the  first 
libraries  properly  so  called. 

After  the  invention  of  printing,  things  intended  to 
be  read  became  more  common ;  but,  as  they  were  still 
quite  rare  and  expensive,  the  old  methods  of  collect- 
ing and  preserving  them  were  kept  up  and  the  habit 
of  giving  them  a  certain  reverence  was  continued. 

The  reverence  was  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  few 
could  either  write  or  read,  in  part  to  the  rarity  of 
books,  in  part  to  the  mystery  attached  by  the  igno- 
rant to  the  art  of  reading ;  but  chiefly  to  the  fact  that 
writing  and  reading  and  the  practice  of  preserving 
books  were  largely  confined  to  exponents  of  accepted 
religious  cults. 

As  time  went  on  and  books  increased  in  number 
and  reading  became  more  common,  this  reverence  for 
the  book  decreased,  but  it  decreased  very  slowly. 

243 


LIBRARIES 

Books  were  for  the  promotion  of  culture.  Culture 
was  something  which  the  upper  classes  only  had  a 
right  to  get.  Science  was  pursued  by  few,  and  those 
few  were  scarcely'  admitted  to  the  aristocracy  of  book- 
users.  It  is  only  within  very  recent  years  that  in 
England,  for  example,  the  study  of  medicine  and  its 
allied  subjects,  even  if  carried  on  to  most  helpful 
results,  gave  him  who  followed  it  a  good  position  in 
the  social  hierarchy. 

The  real  books  in  the  opinion  of  the  educated 
among  the  upper  classes,  and,  indeed,  among  all  of  the 
members  of  the  upper  classes  who  were  competent  to 
form  opinions,  were  held  to  be,  first,  the  literary 
masterpieces,  the  books  which  time  had  spared  be- 
cause they  were  thought  to  tell  things  so  skilfully  as 
to  make  them  of  interest  and  value  to  all  men  for  all 
time.  Among  these  were  included  all  the  older  Oreek 
and  Latin  writings,  which  were  looked  upon  with  a 
certain  awe,  largely  because  they  were  in  Greek  and 
Latin.  Second,  books  on  these  classic  books,  yf^M]• 
expositions,  criticisms.  Third,  books  on  religious 
subjects  and  especially  on  theology  in  all  its  ])hases 
and  including  philosopli3\  These  books  continued  to 
form  the  greater  part  of  libraries  until  within  a  few 
jears. 

When  the  public  library  movement  took  form  and 
celerity  in  our  country,  about  forty  years  ago,  the 
accepted  field  of  library  book  collection  had  widened 
to  cover  all  kinds  of  writings.  Novels  were  still 
looked  on  with  a  little  disfavor,  unless  they  were  by 
writers  time  had  tried  and  the  ministry  approved; 
science  was  closely  looked  at  to  see  that  it  did  not 
incline  to  infidelity ;  and  discussions  of  sex  and  society 
and  government  were  feared  as  tending  to  promote 
immorality   and    insurrection.     On   the   whole,   how- 

2U 


THE  SPECIAL  LIBRARY 

ever,  almost  auytliiug  that  had  the  form  of  a  book 
could  find  a  place  in  the  public  library  of  forty  years 
ago,  even  though  it  might  not  be  thought  proper  to 
admit  it  to  the  presence  of  a  mere  reader. 

As  a  collection  of  all  printed  books  the  library 
had  arrived;  as  a  something  established  to  gather  all 
knowledge  and  all  thought  that  the  same  might  be 
freely  used  by  all  classes  of  the  community,  it  had  not. 
The  failure  of  the  public  library  of  forty  years 
ago  to  address  itself  to  all  the  community  without 
distinction  of  wealth,  social  standing  or  education, 
and  its  failure,  so  far  as  it  did  so  address  itself,  to 
find  its  advances  welcomed  and  its  advantages  mad- 
use  of,  were  due  to  two  factors  chiefly :  the  tendency 
of  the  librarian  to  think  of  his  collections  as  rather 
for  the  learned  than  for  the  learner,  and  the  tendency 
of  the  community  at  large  to  think  of  a  collection  of 
books  as  rather  exclusively  designed  for  those  who 
had  been  reared  to  use  them. 

This  long-continued,  self-imposed  opinion  as  to  the 
proper  limi^itions  of  the  library-using  group  was 
broadened  in  due  course  for  several  reasons. 

The  output  of  print  increased  with  great  rapidity ; 
and  the  newspapers,  to  speak  of  one  form  only  of 
printed  things  caused  a  rapid  growth  in  the  reading 
habit  and  led  millions  to  gain  a  superficial  knowledge 
of  many  aspects  of  life  and  thought. 

Public  and  private  schools  and  colleges  taught 
more  subjects  and  taught  them  better,  until  finally 
the  sciences  were,  a  few  years  ago,  ndmitted  as  proper 
fields  of  knowledge  and  tools  of  discipline  even  to  the 
most  conservative  of  English  universities.  From 
acquaintance  with  a  wide  range  of  required  school 
reading  it  was  but  a  step  to  the  demand  that  a  still 
wider  range  be  furnished  by  the  public  library. 

245 


LIBKAKIES 

The  liiibit  of  reading  increased  very  rapidly  anions; 
women.  More  of  them  became  teachers,  more  of 
them  entered  industrial  life,  more  of  them  joined 
study  clubs,  and  these  changes  in  their  forms  of 
activity  all  led  to  an  increase  of  reading,  to  a  wider 
range  of  reading  and  to  a  notable  and  insistent 
demand  upon  libraries  that  they  furnish  the  books 
and  journals  on  whatsoever  subjects  woman's  broad- 
ening interests  included. 

Indeed,  a  certain  almost  apostolic  devotion  to  the 
reading  done  by  children  and  an  enthusiastic  welcom- 
ing of  women  as  readers  and  students  have  been  two 
of  the  most  marked  features  in  the  development  of 
the  library  work  in  the  last  twenty  years. 

Another  change  in  library  activities  is  now  taking 
place,  and  is  being  mainly  brought  about  by  the 
increase  in  things  printed,  already  alluded  to.  And 
here  it  may  be  well  to  refer  to  the  opening  statement, 
that  the  character  of  library  management  is  depend- 
ent on  the  character  and  quantity  of  things  to  be 
read ;  and  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  imme- 
diate causes  of  changes  in  the  contents  and  adminis- 
tration of  libraries — newspapers,  children's  wider 
reading,  women's  greater  interest  in  world-knowledge 
— are  themselves  largely  the  results  of  the  growth  of 
print  and  the  resulting  increase  in  things  to  be  read. 

Modern  invention,  making  printing  much  cheaper 
than  formerly,  has  led  inevitably  to  a  tremendous 
growth  in  output.  And  by  way  of  explanation  of, 
though  not  as  an  excuse  for,  the  failure  of  librarians 
as  a  class  to  realize  the  great  changes  in  scope  and 
method  of  librarj-  management,  Avhich  the  growth  of 
printing  and  of  the  use  of  things  printed  will  soon 
bring,  it  may  be  said  that  printing  and  print-using 
gained  their  present  astounding  rate  of  increase  only 

246 


THE  SPECIAL  LIBEARY 

within  the  past  ten  or  fifteen  years.  Few  yet  realize 
that  printing  is  only  now,  after  450  years  of  practice 
of  the  art,  at  the  very  earliest  stages  of  its  develop- 
ment and  is  bnt  beginning  to  work  on  mankind  its 
tremendons  and  incalcnlable  effects. 

The  increase  of  print  is  marked  in  new  book  pro- 
duction ;  is  far  more  marked  in  periodical  literature ; 
perhaps  still  more  in  the  publications  of  public  insti- 
tutions and  private  associations;  still  more  again  in 
the  field  of  advertising  by  poster,  circular,  picture 
and  pamphlet;  and  perhaps  most  of  all  in  the  mere 
commercial  wrapper. 

Every  added  piece  of  print  helps  to  add  new  or 
more  facile  and  more  eager  readers  to  the  grand 
total  of  print  consumers.  As  commerce  and  industry 
have  grown,  print  has  increased  also,  and  naturally 
and  inevitably  more  rapidly  than  either. 

Considered  merely  as  an  industry  and  measured 
by  money  invested  and  value  of  output,  print  seems 
to  be  growing  now  faster  than  any  other  of  the  great 
industries,  among  which  it  is  one  of  the  first ;  and  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  a  like  expenditure  each  year  pro- 
duces, thanks  to  invention  and  discovery,  a  greater 
output  of  things  to  be  read,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
in  its  products,  properly  measured,  print  to-day  stands 
in  the  front  rank  of  all  our  manufactures. 

As  modern  production,  commerce,  transportation 
and  finance  have  grown  and  become  more  compli- 
cated, they  have  found  in  print  a  tool  which  can  be 
well  used  in  the  effort  to  master  the  mass  of  facts 
which  daily  threatens  to  overwhelm  even  the  most 
skillful  in  their  efforts  at  safe  and  profitable  indus- 
trial management.  In  spite  of  all  that  is  reported 
in  print  of  things  done,  projects  planned,  tests  made, 
results   reached,   in   the   ten   thousand   wide-ranging 

247 


LIBRARIES 

lilies  of  the  world's  work — from  a  new  i^old  reef  of 
iiiiexaiiipled  richness  in  the  fastnesses  of  New  Uni- 
nea's  mountains,  to  the  new  use  of  a  by-prodnct  of  a 
city's  !j;arl»aiie,  much  escapes,  or,  beinj;  printed,  is 
nnknown  to  him  who  can  use  it  to  his  advantage. 
And  so  onr  worldy  information  uoes  on  piliiiii  ^ip^  not 
all  of  it  in  ])rint,  but  so  much  of  it  in  i)rint  as  to 
make  that  whicli  is  i)rinted  almost  impossible  of 
control. 

The  problem  of  efficient  handliiifi,'  of  worldly  infor- 
mation is  diiificnlt  enonoh  in  itself,  bnt  to  this  is  added 
what  Ave  may  call  in  contrast  other-worldly  informa- 
tion. Social  qnestions  which  were  seemingly  ([uite 
few  in  nnmber  only  a  generation  ago,  have  ninlti])lied 
marvelonsly  as  modern  indnstrialism  and  nniversal 
edncation  have  prodnced  their  inevital)le  resnlt  of 
complicating  onr  social  strnctnre. 

These  social  qnestions  demand  solntion ;  societies 
to  solve  them  straightway  arise,  and  proceed  to  in- 
quire, to  study,  to  investigate,  to  experiment,  and  to 
publish  resnlts.  These  published  resnlts  inevitably 
throw  liglit  on  tlie  daily  routine  of  the  industrialist, 
a  rontine  already  complex  enough;  also,  tliey  t(Mid  to 
modify  public  ()]»inioii  or  even  almost  to  create  a  new 
and  hitherto  unheard  of  public  (tpinion,  and  this  nt^w- 
born  opinion  again  affects,  and  often  most  seriously, 
the  industrialist's  routine.  ^Meanwhile  this  new 
social  service  spirit  tJikes  hold  npon  questions  of  gov- 
ernment, complicates  them,  gives  nnexpected  answers 
to  tliem,  reverses  the  old  ones,  and,  so  doing,  affects 
in  a  startling  way  the  attenii)ts  of  the  industi-inlist 
to  establish  and  maintain  his  nmtine. 

Of  all  this  social-service  and  governiueut  activity 
the  i)rinte(l  output  is  amazingly  mnltitudinons. 

248 


THE  SPECIAL  LIHRARY 

In  iiiiY  city  of  moderate  size  the  social  service 
institutions,  inclndinj;'  departments  of  the  city, 
county,  state  and  national  governnuMit,  and  the  pri- 
vate and  quasi-public  organizations  wliich  are  at- 
tempting to  modify  opinions,  customs,  ordinances  and 
laws  directly  or  imlirectly,  through  stiuly,  experi- 
ment, investigation,  exhortation  and  demand,  are  so 
numerous,  so  active,  so  persistent  and  in  the  main  so 
effective,  and  publish  annually  so  many  thousand 
pieces  of  things  to  be  read,  as  to  make  it  almost 
impossible  for  any  organization  to  have  in  hand  full 
knowledge  of  them  all.  Yet  upon  every  enterprise  in 
that  city  many  of  these  countless  institutions  have 
already  produced  an  effect,  or  will  to-morrow,  next 
week  or  next  year.  The  wise  industrialist  would  take 
them  into  account  in  planning  his  campaigns,  and 
finds  it  extremely  difficult  to  do  so. 

Add  to  this  other-worldly  literature  the  tremen- 
dous stream  of  worldly  literature  already  alluded  to, 
and  include  in  the  latter  the  vast  flood  of  trade,  tech- 
nical and  scientific  journals,  proceedings  of  societies 
and  books  and  brochures  from  individuals;  and  then 
consider  the  difSculties  which  confront,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  industrialist  who  would  know  of  the  social, 
economic,  industrial,  technical  and  scientific  changes, 
advances  and  movements  which  may  affect  his  enter- 
prise; and  confront,  on  the  other  hand,  the  organiza- 
tion, be  it  public  or  private,  which  is  trying  to  keep 
him  duly  informed !  Moreover,  beyond  all  this  is  the 
vast  field  of  research  within  which  countless  widely 
scattered  workers,  who  for  lack  of  swift  interchange 
of  knowledge  of  their  respective  successes  and  failures 
are  wasting  their  time  on  misdirected  and  needless 
effort. 

249 


LIBRAKIES 

The  change  which  this  swift  growth  of  thiiigs- 
iuteudecl-to-be  read  is  to-day  imposing  on  libraries  can 
now  be  roughly  outlined. 

They  may  properly  continue  to  serve  the  student, 
in  the  old  sense  of  that  word,  the  child  and  the  inquir- 
ing woman ;  they  must  also  serve  the  industrialist, 
the  investigator  or  scientist  and  the  social  worker. 

It  is  too  soon  to  say  in  just  what  manner  this  new 
form  of  service  will  be  rendered.  The  difference  in 
the  amount  of  material  to  be  mastered  makes  a  wise 
method  of  administration  most  difficult  of  discovery; 
and  added  to  this  great  difference  in  amount  is  a 
difference  in  what  one  may  call  the  proper  length  of 
life. 

The  technique  of  tlie  management  of  printed  ma- 
terial gathered  by  libraries  has,  in  its  development 
in  the  past  forty  years,  been  devoted  almost  solely  to 
the  accurate  description,  complete  indexing  and  care- 
ful preservation  of  that  material.  So  elaborate  was 
the  ritual  in  this  field  which  was  established  and 
quite  generally  adopted  some  twenty  years  ago  that 
to-da}^  it  costs  a  library  of  moderate  size  from  20  to 
50  cents  merely  to  prepare  and  put  on  the  shelf  each 
one  of  its  collected  items,  be  the  same  a  pamphlet  of 
four  jmges  costing  nothing  or  a  scientific  treatise  of  a 
thousand  pages  costing  |10.  And  tliis  takes  no 
account  of  binding. 

It  would  be  useless  to  attem])t  here  to  describe 
or  to  enumerate  the  countless  sources  from  Avhich 
comes  this  mass  of  material  which  confronts  us,  and 
demands  of  tlie  librarian  a  reasonable  control.  It 
comes  from  governmental  bodies,  public  and  quasi- 
public  institutions  and  businesses;  from  private 
bodies,   scientific,   artistic,   philosophic,   educational, 

250 


THE  SPECIAL  LIBRARY 

philanthropic,  social;  and  from  private  individuals. 
It  even  inclndes  print  which  is  designed  to  advertise 
bnt  informs  as  well;  and  in  this  line  thousands  of 
makers  of  things  are  putting  out  printed  notes  on 
optics,  chemistry,  travel,  food,  machines,  machine 
products  and  a  thousand  other  subjects,  which  often 
contain  later  and  fuller  and  more  accurate  informa- 
tion than  can  be  gained  elsewhere. 

Nearly  all  this  vast  flood  of  print,  to  the  control  of 
which  libraries  must  now  in  some  degree  address 
themselves,  is  in  pamphlet  form,  and,  what  seems  to 
be  of  the  utmost  importance  in  considering  the  prob- 
lem of  hoAV  to  handle  it,  nearly  all  of  it  is,  as  already 
noted,  ephemeral.  Herein ;  also  as  already  said,  is  a 
characteristic  which  distinguishes  it  from  nearly  all 
the  printed  material  with  which  librarians  have 
heretofore  busied  themselves. 

Everything  intended  to  be  read  which  comes  into 
a  library's  possession  must  be  preserved — such  is  the 
doctrine  based  on  the  old  feeling  of  the  sanctity  of 
print  which  once  was  almost  universally  accepted. 
Even  to  this  day  those  are  to  be  found  who  urge  the 
library  of  a  small  town  to  gather  and  preserve  all  they 
can  lay  hands  on  of  all  that  is  printed  in  or  about 
that  town.  When  President  Eliot  of  Harvard  a  few 
years  ago,  seeing  clearly,  as  can  any  whose  eyes  are 
open  to  the  progress  of  printing,  that  print  may  over- 
whelm us  if  we  do  not  master  it,  urged  that  great 
libraries  be  purged  of  dead  things,  the  voice  of  the 
spirit  of  print  worship  of  a  hundred  years  ago  was 
heard  proclaiming  that  nothing  that  is  printed,  once 
gathered  and  indexed,  can  be  spared.  Whereas,  did 
any  large  library  attempt  to  gather,  and  set  in  order 
for  use  under  the  technique  now  followed,  as  large  a 

251 


LIBRARIES 

proportion  of  all  tliat  is  now  printed,  as  it  did  of 
what  was  printed  in  1800,  it  wonld  bankrni)t  its 
commnnity. 

The  amazing  growth  of  the  printing  industry  is 
overturning  tlie  old  standards  of  value  of  things 
printed  and  the  old  nietliods  of  use,  has  indeed 
already  done  it,  though  few  as  yet  realize  that  this 
is  so. 

To  establish  this  fact  is  one  of  the  primary  pur- 
poses of  the  whole  argument.  To  emphasize  its  truth, 
two  more  things  may  be  mentioned,  the  moving  pic- 
ture film  and  the  plionographic  record.  Historically 
these  are  as  important  as  are  an}-  printed  records  of 
our  time.  Yet  what  library  dare  take  upon  itself  the 
task  of  gathering  and  preserving  and  indexing  them? 

Here  we  have  two  kinds  of  records  of  contempo- 
rary life,  both  closely  allied  in  character  to  printed 
things,  which  the  all-inclusive  library  does  not  even 
attempt  to  gather,  list  and  index.  Difficult  as  it 
would  1)e  for  any  one  library,  or  even  any  group  of 
large  libraries,  to  collect  and  preserve  all  these 
records  of  the  liuman  voice  and  of  the  visible  activities 
of  men,  still  more  difficult  would  it  be  to  gather  and 
save  all  that  is  printed  today. 

The  proper  view  of  printed  things  is,  that  the 
stream  thereof  need  not  be  anywhere  completely 
stored  behind  the  dykes  and  dams  formed  by  the 
slielves  of  any  library  or  of  any  grou})  of  libraries ;  but 
tluit  from  tliat  stream  as  it  rushes  by  expert  observers 
should  select  what  is  pertinent  eacli  to  his  own  con- 
stituency, to  his  own  organization,  to  his  own  com- 
mnnitj',  hold  it  as  long  as  it  continues  to  have  value 
to  those  for  whom  he  selects  it,  make  it  easily  access- 
ible by  some  simple  process,  and  then  let  it  go. 

r>oth  tlie  expert  and  the  student  may  rest  assured 


THE  SPECIAL  LIBRARY 

that  the  cheapness  of  the  printing  process  of  onr  day 
and  the  natural  zeal  and  self-interest  of  inquirers, 
students,  compilers,  indexers  and  publishers,  will  see 
to  it  that  nothing  that  is  of  permanent  value,  once 
put  in  print,  is  ever  lost.  Not  only  are  there  made 
in  these  days  compilations  and  abstracts  innumerable 
by  private  individuals  for  their  own  pleasure  and 
profit;  but  also  a  very  large  and  rapidly  increasing 
number  of  societies  are  devoting  large  sums  of  money, 
high  skill  and  tireless  industry  to  gathering,  abstract- 
ing and  indexing  records  of  human  thought,  research 
and  industry  in  all  their  forms. 

Select  the  best  books,  list  them  elaborately,  save 
them  forever — was  the  sum  of  the  librarians'  creed  of 
yesterday.  To-morrow  it  must  be,  select  a  few  of  the 
best  books  and  keep  them,  as  before,  but  also,  select 
from  the  vast  flood  of  print  the  things  your  constitu- 
ency will  find  helpful,  make  them  available  with  a 
minimum  of  expense,  and  discard  them  as  soon  as 
their  usefulness  is  past. 

This  latter  creed  has  been  as  yet  adopted  by  very 
few  practicing  librarians.  It  is  gaining  followers, 
however,  in  the  fields  of  research  and  industry  whose 
leaders  are  rapidly  and  inevitably  learning  that  only 
by  having  accessible  all  the  records  of  experiment, 
exploration  and  discovery  pertaining  to  their  own 
enterprise,  wherever  made,  can  they  hope  to  avoid 
mistakes,  escape  needless  expenditures  and  make 
profitable  advances  in  au}^  department  of  science  or  in 
any  kind  of  industrial  or  social  work. 

In  recent  years  has  arisen  an  organization  called 
the  Special  Libraries  Association.  It  came  into  being 
in  this  way : 

A  few  large  enterprises,  private,  public  and  quasi- 
public,  discovered  that  it  paid  to  emplo}^  a  skilled 

253 


LIBRARIES 

person  and  ask  him  to  devote  all  liis  time  to  gatherinp; 
and  arranging  printed  material  ont  of  Avliich  be  could 
supply  tlie  leaders  of  the  enterprise,  on  demand  or 
at  stated  intervals,  with  the  latest  information  on 
their  work. 

This  librarian  purchased  periodicals,  journals, 
proceedings  of  societies,  leaflets,  pamphlets,  and 
books  on  the  special  field  in  which  his  employers  were 
interested,  studied  them,  indexed  them,  or  tore  or 
clipped  from  them  pertinent  material  and  filed  it 
under  projoer  headings,  and  then  either  held  himself 
in  readiness  to  guide  managers,  foremen  and  others 
direct!}^  to  the  latest  information  on  any  topics  they 
might  present,  or  compiled  each  week  or  each  month 
a  list  of  pertinent,  classified  references  to  the  last 
words  from  all  parts  of  the  world  on  the  fields  covered 
by  his  organization's  activities,  and  laid  a  copy  of  this 
list  on  the  desk  of  every  employe  who  could  make 
good  use  of  it. 

Roughly  described,  this  is  the  method  of  control- 
ling the  special  information  the  world  was  offering 
them  whicli  perhaps  not  more  tlian  a  score  of  pro- 
gressive institutions  had  found  it  wise  to  ado}!t   > 
to  five  or  six  years  ago. 

At  that  time  the  public  library  of  Newark  was 
developing  what  it  called  a  library'  for  men  of  affairs, 
a  business  branch.  This  was  in  a  rented  store  close 
to  the  business  and  traiis])ortati()n  center  of  the  city. 
The  library's  management  believed  that  men  and 
women  who  were  engaged  in  manufacturing,  com- 
merce, transportation,  finance,  insurance,  and  allied 
activities  could  profitably  make  greater  use  than  they 
had  heretofore  of  information  to  be  found  in  print. 
They  were  sure  that  this  useful  industrial  informa- 
tion existed,  for  they  knew  that  the  most  ]>rogressive 

254 


THE  SPECIAL  LIBRARY 

among  men  of  affairs  in  this  country,  and  still  more 
in  Germany,  found  and  made  good  use  of  it.  Indeed 
they  knew  that  they  already  had  in  the  main  library's 
collection  much  material  which  almost  any  industrial 
organization  and  almost  any  industrial  worker  could 
consult  with  profit.  Such  material  was  already  used 
to  a  slight  extent  in  the  central  building;  but  they 
believed  that  if  what  might  be  called  "the  printed 
material  fundamental  to  a  great  manufacturing  and 
commercial  city"  were  so  placed  and  so  arranged  that 
it  could  be  easily  consulted  by  men  of  business,  tlie 
habit  of  using  it  would  spread  very  rapidly. 

From  the  first  it  was  evident  that  the  library  was 
entering  a  field  not  jet  greatly  cultivated.  There 
were  no  guides  to  selection  of  material ;  there  were  no 
precedents  to  serve  as  rules  for  handling  it  when 
found.  Professional  library  literature  did  not  help, 
because  this  particular  form  of  library  work  had 
never  been  undertaken.  It  was  not  difficult  to  learn 
that  the  old  rule,  gather  everj'thing  possible,  index 
and  save  forever,  must  here  be  in  the  main,  discarded, 
and  the  new  rule,  select,  examine,  use  and  discard  be 
adopted. 

But  to  put  the  new  rule  into  practice  was  very 
difficult. 

This  question  naturally  rose,  are  others  attempt- 
ing work  at  all  similar  to  this  of  ours?  Inquiry  soon 
brought  to  light  a  few  librarians  of  private  corpora- 
tions, public  service  institutions  and  city  and  state 
governments  which,  as  already  noted,  were  also  work- 
ing on  the  new  line.  Correspondence  and  conference 
followed;  an  organization  for  mutual  aid  promised  to 
be  helpful  and  the  Special  Libraries  Association  was 
formed. 

Merely  as  a  matter  of  history,  and  chiefly  because 

255 


LIBRARIES 

the  active  and  skillful  Avorkers  wbo  now  have  the 
movement  in  hand,  promise  to  make  of  this  associ- 
ation an  institntion  of  very  great  importance,  it  may 
be  well  to  state  here  that  the  suggestion  of  an  organi- 
zation of  those  engaged  iu  what  may  be  called  the 
sheer  utilitarian  management  of  print,  was  made  by 
the  Newark  library,  and  that  from  that  library  and 
from  the  library  of  the  Merchants'  Association  of 
New  York,  were  sent  (nit  the  invitations  to  a  pre- 
liminary conference  at  Brettou  AVoods,  in  July,  1909. 

Representatives  of  about  a  dozen  special  libraries 
were  present,  and  the  librarians  of  several  public  and 
university  libraries  as  well. 

The  name  Special  Libraries  was  chosen  with  some 
hesitation,  and  rather  in  default  of  a  better;  l)ut  it 
has  seemed  to  lit  the  movement  admirably.  It  may 
be  said,  of  course,  that  every  library  is  in  a  measure 
special,  in  its  own  field,  and  that  state  libraries, 
libraries  of  colleges  and  universities,  of  medicine,  law, 
history,  art  and  other  subjects  may  be  called  special. 
But  a  special  library,  and  the  special  departments  of 
more  general  libraries — like  the  business  branch  in 
Newark^are  the  first  and  as  yet  almost  the  only 
print-administering  institutions  which  professedly 
recognize  the  change  in  library  method  that  the  vast 
and  swiftly  mounting  bulk  of  i)rint  is  demanding; 
realize  how  ephemeral,  and  at  tlie  same  time  how 
exceedingly  useful  for  tlie  day  and  liour,  is  much  of 
the  present  output  of  things-intended-to-be-read,  and 
frankly  adopt  the  new  library  creed  as  to  i)rint  man- 
agement, of  careful  selection,  immediate  use  and 
ready  rejection  when  usefulness  is  past. 

The  story  of  the  growth  and  work  of  this  associ- 
ation of  special  libraries  not  only  demonstrates  the 
truth  of  the  statement  that  the  modern  lU'inting  press 

25G 


THE  SPECIAL  LIBRARY 

is  giving'  lis  a  new  view  of  its  own  importance  and 
helpfulness,  it  also  shows  how  rapidly  the  new  view 
is  being  taken  by  the  world  of  att'airs;  and,  further- 
more, it  suggests  some  of  the  methods  to  which 
adoption  of  the  new  library  criH'd  is  giving  rise. 

The  association  began  with  about  thirty  members, 
of  whom  more  than  half  represented  special  libraries 
that  could  be  properly  so-called.  In  one  year  the 
number  of  special  library  representatives  increased 
to  more  than  70,  and  in  the  next  two  years  to  125. 
In  January,  1910,  the  association  began  the  publica- 
tion of  a  monthly  journal.  The  distribution  of  this 
journal,  which  has  been  very  wisely  and  economically 
edited  and  published  by  Mr.  John  A.  Lapp,  legislative 
reference  librarian  of  Indianapolis;  the  distribution 
of  circular  letters,  reports  and  articles  in  the  public 
press;  the  meetings  of  the  association  itself  and  of 
sub-divisions  of  it  and  outgrowths  from  it,  all  have 
served  as  an  excellent  and  effective  propaganda  of  the 
idea  of  the  systematic  use  of  print  in  the  world  of 
affairs. 

A  list  of  special  libraries  in  this  country,  published 
in  Special  Libraries  for  April,  1910,  not  including 
libraries  of  law,  medicine,  history  and  theology  and 
including  ver^^  few  public,  scientific  and  reference 
libraries,  gave  11  <S  names. 

Most  of  the  libraries  that  have  joined  the  associ- 
ation since  its  first  year,  1909-10,  have  come  into 
existence  since  that  year.  They  now  increase  in  num- 
ber so  rapidh'  that  it  is  impossible  to  keep  the  record 
of  them  complete.  One  can  only  say  that  managers 
of  scientific  engineering,  manufacturing,  managerial, 
commercial,  financial,  insurance,  advertising,  social 
and  other  organizations,  including  states,  cities, 
government   commissions   and   the   like,   are,   as   the 

257 


LIBKARIES 

i('((»i(ls  (»f  the  Special  Libraries  Association  sliow, 
c(»ininy,'  evci-v  day  in  increasini;,-  nnmbers  to  the  ol)vi- 
ons  ((tnclnsion,  that  it  pays  to  emplo}'  an  expert  who 
shall  l»e  able,  when  ecpiipped  with  proper  appararns, 
to  liive  them  from  day  to  day  news  of  the  latest 
movements  in  their  respective  fields. 

The  jonrnal,  Special  Libraries,  has  pnblished  a 
total  of  thirty-tive  nnnd)ers,  over  400  pai>es,  and  has 
printed  scores  of  helpfnl  articles  on  snch  snbjects  as 
"The  earning  power  of  special  libraries,"  "The  valne 
of  the  special  library  for  the  bnsiness  man,  the  sales- 
man or  the  shop  expert,"  "Indnstrial  libraries,"  "A 
reference  library  in  a  inannfacturing  j)lant,"  and 
many  carefnlly  prei)ared  lists  of  books,  magazine 
articles,  new  legislative  enactments  and  the  like,  witii 
titles  like  the  following:  Acconnting,  ^lotion  pictnres. 
Open  sho}),  Short  ballot.  Efficiency,  Pnblic  ntility 
rates. 

This  association  and  this  jonrnal  are  described 
here  tlins  fnllj^  because  they  seem  to  point  so  clearly 
to  the  coming  change  in  general  library  method  with 
which  this  whole  <irgnment  concerns  itself. 

The  fact  that  we  now  have  an  active  movenu^nt  for 
the  establishment  within  large  indnstrial  enterprises 
of  special  dei>artments  for  the  pro])er  control  of  all 
pertinent  ])rinted  information,  is  of  itself  good  evi- 
dence that  the  needs  these  departments  sn])ply  are 
needs  "\Ahicli  pnblic  and  college  libraries  of  the  con- 
ventional tyi)e  are  not  supplying.  Other  evidence 
could  be  set  forth  from  state  libraries,  mnni(ii>al 
libraries  and  libraries  of  legislative  research. 

It  is  not  suggested  that  libraries  of  the  type  of 
ten  or  even  five  years  ago,  public,  i)ro])rietary,  state, 
historical,  could  ever  do  the  work  Avhich  the  enlight- 
ened industrialist  of  to-day  asks  of  the  special  jjrint- 

258 


THE  SPECIAL  LTI'.KAKY 

handling  department  l»e  sets  np  in  and  for  his  own 
organization.  Bnt  this  seems  evident  enongh  from 
all  that  has  been  said,  that  the  old  type  of  library 
must  modify  itself  in  accordance  with  the  new  needs 
wliich  the  evolntion  of  knowledge  and  the  growtli  of 
print  have  created.  Speaking  of  the  free  pnblic 
library  only — thongh  what  is  trne  of  this  is  trne  in 
a  measnre  also  of  the  college,  nniversity  or  historical 
library — it  should  try  to  master  so  mnch  of  the  Hood 
of  print  as  is  of  importance  to  its  community  as  a 
whole,  and  to  those  aspects  of  industrial  life  which 
are  common  to  all  men  and  women  of  affairs  in  its 
community. 

This  paper  has  failed  of  its  nmin  purpose  if  it 
has  not  shown  that  the  public  library  should  ecpiip 
itself  to  handle  a  vast  amount  of  ephemerally  useful 
material,  and  should,  by  its  methods  in  this  work, 
suggest  to  the  large  business  institutions  how  helpful 
they  would  find  the  adoption  of  similar  work  within 
their  respective  fields. 


259 


THE  LEGITIMATE  FIELD  OF  THE  MUNICIPAL 
PUBLIC  LIBKARY 

Prepared  for  the  International  Meeting  of  Librarians 
at  Oxford,  England,  August  31  to  Hepteniher  5, 
19U 
The  question  implied  in  tlie  title  set  for  this  paper 

is  this : 

''^Vhat  is  the  legitimate  field  of   a   free  public 
library  established  and  maintained  by  a  city?" 
To  this  question  no  answer  can  be  given. 
Social   organisms— American   and   English   cities 
for  examples— are  always  changing  in  size  and  char- 
acter.    Their  component  units  change  through  death, 
birth  and  immigration;  and  the  knowledges,  faiths, 
thoughts  and  habits  of  each  component  unit  change 
within  that  unit's  own  lifetime.     With  this  change  in 
the  organism  goes,  of  course,  a  change  in  the  institu- 
tions which  the  organism  may  set  up,  either  to  satisfy 
its  positive  needs,  or  to  fulfill  its  wish  to  conform  to 
certain  customs  found  in  other  kindred  organisms,  or 
to  favor  a  habit,  like  that  of  universal  education,  into 
which  it  may  have  fallen. 

It  follows,  then,  that  a  free  public  library  estab- 
lished by  a  city,  no  matter  how  clearly  defined  may 
have  been  its  character  and  the  scope  of  its  work  in 
the  minds  of  those  who  established  it,  will  change 
that  character  and  that  scope  as  the  city  organism 
itself  changes  through  the  inevitable  modification  of 
its  component  units. 

The  legitimate  field  of  work  of  a  city's  public 
library  is,  then,  that  field  which  the  temper  of  that 
city  may  at  any  given  time  permit  it,  or  encourage  it, 
or  compel  it  to"^  occupy.     As  that  temper  changes,  the 

261 


LIBRARIES 

Held  will  cluuiye  accordinglv;  narrowing  and  widen- 
ing and  using  broad  or  intensive  cultivation  as  days 
pass  and  knctwledges,  thoughts  and  feelings  vary. 
The  field  actually  occupied  by  a  librai-y  on  any  given 
day  can  be  roughly  described — for  that  day.  The 
tiehl  it  will  occupy  to-morrow,  and  tlie  tield  it  onght 
to  oecupy  to-morrow — this  latter  being  Avhat  may  be 
called  its  legitimate  field — neither  of  these  can  be 
delinuted. 

I  have  thus  tried  to  show  tliat  no  answer  can  be 
given  to  the  question  implied  in  onr  title,  not  for  the 
purpose  of  suggesting  that  discussion  of  the  topic  is 
futile,  for  I  do  not  tliink  it  is;  but  to  prepare  the 
way  for  discussion.  If  we  have  no  rules  or  principles 
which  enable  us  to  say  that  any  given  form  of  library 
activity  is  or  is  not  proper,  ov  k^gitimate,  then  we 
can  look  upon  all  forms  of  tliat  activity  Avitli  ])]iih)- 
sopliic  calm  and  consider  their  value  from  the  rational 
point  of  view — that  of  pure  expedieney. 

Of  course  it  is  not  neeessary  to  say  that  there  may 
be  found  features  of  library  work  Avhich  courts  of 
law  prononiuM?  illegal.  These  our  discussion  only 
remotely  touches  upon. 

Let  us  then  restate  our  (luestion  thus: 

"What  are  some  of  the  more  interesting,  recent 
an(i  unusual  kinds  of  library  Avork,  and  do  they  seem 
expedient?** 

Discussing  this  we  keep  within  the  range  of  o])in- 
ioii,  aiul  we  arrive  at  tentative  conclusions  only.  Dis- 
cussion of  this  kind  should  be  entertaining,  at  least; 
and,  if  touched  A\itli  knowledge  and  some  ex])erien('e, 
jind  tempered  by  coolness,  may  be  quite  profitable. 

I  have  before  me  as  I  write  the  last  report  of  the 
Cleveland  Tublic  Library.  The  Cleveland  Library 
was  the  (irst  one  of  good  size  in  our  country,  ami   I 

262 


THE  MUNICIPAL  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

guess  in  the  whole  world,  to  practice  open  access. 
This  was  more  than  twenty-tive  years  aj^o.  iSince 
then,  under  the  same  librarian,  it  has  taken  up  many 
new  forms  of  library  activity  and  given  them  full  trial 
and  pronounced  them,  for  its  purposes,  expedient. 

It  carries  on  all  the  conventional  activities  of  a 
library,  such  as  buying  and  binding  books  and  jour- 
nals and  lending  them,  and  binding  and  rebinding 
books.     On  these  no  discussion  arises. 

It  has  recently  added  to  its  stalf  a  library  editor, 
who  edits  library  publications,  annotates  books  and 
promotes  advertising.  It  is  difficult  to  question  the 
wisdom  of  this  addition  to  the  staff  of  a  library  which 
expends  nearly  |400,000  per  year,  outside  of  build- 
ings, owns  300, 000  volumes,  has  eleven  large  and 
fourteen  small  branches,  employs  about  400  persons, 
does  much  printing  and  advertising  and  lends  for 
home  use  each  year  2,700,000  volumes. 

In  the  City  Hall  the  library  recently  opened  a 
branch  which  it  calls  a  Municipal  Reference  Library. 
The  name  defines  its  functions,  and  to  define  its  func- 
tions is  almost  a  sufficient  argument  for  its  expedi- 
encj.  It  has  not  been  successful  thus  far.  Few 
know  it  exists;  few  of  those  who  hear  it  understand 
what  it  is  for.  Is  this  a  good  reason  for  withdrawing 
from  this  part  of  the  library  field?  The  librarian 
thinks  not,  and  I  agree  with  him.  ^Nlany  good  institu- 
tions have  helped  to  create  the  need  they  were  est'ib- 
lished  to  fill.  The  librarian  knows  that  most  city 
officials,  like  nearly  all  men  of  affairs,  have  never 
learned  how  valuable  a  tool  they  have  at  hand  in  the 
printed  page  and  in  the  precedents,  experiences  and 
statistics  in  the  work  of  city  management  which  ma:^' 
be  drawn  therefrom.  He  suggests  closer  cooperntio'i 
with   a  City   Bureau   of  Information  and  Publicity, 

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LIBRARIES 

already  in  existence,  and  more  aggressive  advertisins; 
methods. 

A  few  cities  have  nmnicipal  libraries,  independent 
of  the  public  library.  They  are  not  all  successful  and 
some  do  little  more  than  furnish  salaries  to  in<-oiii- 
petents.  It  seems  clear  that  it  is  unwise  for  a  eity 
to  maintain  two  independent  institutions  for  carry- 
ing on  the  same  w^ork — that  of  gathering  print  ami 
extracting  from  it  that  material  which  will  licl])  tiit^ 
city  government  to  do  better  work.  The  public 
library' has  the  plant  and  the  experts;  it  can  easily 
add  to  its  municipal  literature  and  engage  more 
experts  therein.  A  niunicii)al  branch  of  a  public 
library  seems  quite  expedient,  wherever  the  need  for 
it  appears  and  the  opportunity  is  given  to  estal)lish  it. 

The  Cleveland  librarian  speaks  of  advertising  liis 
municipal  branch ;  and  the  question  arises,  how  far 
may  library  advertising  be  wisely  carried? 

In  Xewark  we  have  for  three  years  spent  about 
a  thousand  dollars  per  year,  about  eight-tenths  of  1 
per  cent  of  our  total  outgo,  on  the  publication  of  a 
monthly  journal,  the  expenditure  named  being  over 
and  above  the  receipts.  It  carries  no  advertising.  It 
declares  itself  as  a  publication  intended  "To  intio- 
duce  a  city  to  itself  and  to  its  Public  Library."  Tliis 
is  an  extreme  case  of  library  advertising.  Perhaps 
none  is  more  so.     Is  it  wise? 

The  reasons  for  thinking  that  it  is  cannot  be 
briefly  and  effectively  stated.  It  takes  up  some  of 
the  cost  of  publishing  catalogs  and  lists;  it  promotes 
the  use  of  our  business  branch ;  each  month  it  reaches 
and  makes  friends  and  patrons  of  a  few  men  of  affairs 
in  a  city  where  trade  and  manufacture  are  more 
definitely  all-engaging  than  they  are  in  most  Ann^-i- 
can  cities;  it  promotes  interest  in  our  new  museums 

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THE  MUNICIPAL  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

of  science,  art  and  industry,  offsprings  of  the  library; 
it  helps  arouse  interest  in  the  work  of  the  City  Plan- 
ning Commission,  of  which  the  librarian  is  a  mem- 
ber; it  gives  to  the  city  itself  a  certain  repute  both 
for  the  forwardness  which  it  has,  an<l  for  that  to 
which  it  aspires. 

This  journal,  The  Newarker — I  send  you  (•()i)i(*s 
for  your  inspection  and  your  criticism — costs  less  per 
year  than  the  wages  of  one  good  assistant.  We  feel 
that  thus  far  it  has  done  more  to  promote  the  wise 
use  of  print  in  Newark,  to  say  nothing  of  its  promo- 
tion of  that  knowledge  of  one's  city  which  is  an  indis- 
pensable basis  of  and  a  powerful  stimulant  to  all 
proper  local  pride,  than  the  best  assistant  could  do 
for  us  in  the  same  period  of  time. 

Many  libraries  publish  bulletins.  These  are  usu- 
ally book-lists  and  little  more.  The  Newarker 
attempts  to  be  in  a  very  modest  way  an  exponent  of 
civic  improvement.  It  preaches  a  little ;  it  expounds 
much  more;  and  it  continually  harps  upon  the  fact — 
though  usually  in  very  subdued  tones — tliat  there  is 
only  one  cure  for  poor  municipal  management — edu- 
cation ;  and  that  in  the  library  are  the  essential  tools 
of  education  for  any  man  in  any  calling — books. 

The  trustees  do  not  ask,  "Does  it  pay  its  way?" 
but,  "Is  it  worth  the  price?" 

If  the  answer  given  them  is  the  true  one,  then  it  is 
evident  that  a  library  may  wisely  go  far  in  spending 
money  and  the  time,  thought  and  energy  of  its  staff 
in  advertising. 

Of  the  books  bought  by  the  Cleveland  library  last 
year  12  per  cent,  7,000  volumes,  Avere  in  languages, 
seventeen  in  number  other  than  English.  What  of 
the  expediency  of  thus  supplying  to  our  ne\\comers 
books  in  these  several  languages? 

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LIBRARIES 

Our  imniij^raut.s  gather  largely  in  cities  and  in 
groups  by  nationalities.  They  vote,  they  learn  of 
the  library,  they  ask  for  books  in  their  native  tongues, 
and  their  requests  are  granted.  But  that  is  a  very 
one-sided  statement  of  the  grounds  for  the  foreign 
langinige  movement  in  American  libraries.  Though 
we  wish  to  Americanize  our  immigrants,  we  also  wish 
them  to  retain  as  long  as  possible  an  interest  and 
pride  in  the  countries  from  which  they  come.  They 
adapt  themselves  almost  too  completely  and  too  rap- 
idly to  our  ways.  A  savor  of  their  old  habits  and 
methods  of  thought  would  be  a  welcome  addition  to 
our  national  diet  of  industry.  If  the  more  intelli- 
gent among  them  wish  to  keep  up  with  tlie  literatui-e 
of  their  homes,  and  to  pass  that  interest  on  to  tlieir 
(•hil(lr(Mi — though  this  is  almost  impossible,  as  the 
ciiildren  always  insist  on  using  English  as  far  as 
possible — then  to  aid  them,  througli  our  pul)lic 
libraries,  seems  expedient.  It  is  easy  to  believe  that 
they  find  their  new  liome  still  more  homelike,  and 
become  all  the  sooner  attached  to  it,  when  they  find 
one  of  its  public  institutions  giving  tliem  a  welcome 
in  their  native  tongues. 

How  far  is  it  wise  to  extend  a  library's  work  for 
children?  It  is  not  yet  possible  to  answer  the 
question. 

Cleveland  has  i)erhai)s  gone  farther  in  this  direc- 
tion than  any  other  city.  It  has  a  director  of  chil- 
dren's work.  In  every  large  branch  is  a  childriMi's 
room,  with  a  specially  trained  children's  libi-arian  in 
charge.  It  juits  out  ''Home  libraries,"  chiclly  for 
children's  use.  Jt  forms  and  fosters  cliibli';'n"s  ''Li- 
brary Leagues"  and  reading  and  social  clubs.  It  has 
inanv  story-lionrs.      It  ojxmis  libraries  in  school  bnild- 

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THE  MUNICIPAL  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

ings.  It  lends  libraries  of  children's  boctks  to 
teachers.  Of  all  its  books  lent  for  home  use  43  per 
cent  are  lent  to  young  people. 

To  understand  why  a  city  offers  such  devotion  to 
children's  reading  and  general  Avelfare  through  its 
public  library,  you  must  be  quite  familiar  with  our 
system  of  public  education.  This  is  no  plaee  to 
describe  that  system.  It  is  easily  the  most  prominent 
and  most  expensive  of  all  departments  of  city  govern- 
ments. In  my  town  our  annual  budget  is  nearly 
$8,000,000,  of  which  about  |2,500,000  goes  to  the 
schools.  In  Cleveland  the  total  is  nearly  $10,000,000, 
of  which  the  schools  take  P,000,000. 

I  believe  that  wliile  education  gets  as  large  a  i)art 
as  it  should  of  the  present  total  budget,  the  total 
should  be  far  greater,  and  the  schools,  with  certain 
other  departments,  should  get  far  more.  The  annual 
eash  outlay  in  Newark  on  motor  vehicles  and  their 
upkeep,  not  including  trucks,  is  about  equal  to  the 
total  annual  receipts  through  taxes.  In  Cleveland  the 
payments  for  motors  are  probably  still  greater  in 
proportion.  Where  such  conditions  exist  talk  of  the 
excessive  cost  of  city  management,  and  of  its  heavy 
burden  on  the  taxpayer,  is  quite  uncalled  for,  unless 
city  money  is  wasted;  and  our  cities  are  probably 
run  rather  more  honestly  than  mau}^  of  our  big 
businesses. 

I  mention  these  things  that  you  may  see  that,  for 
the  purposes'  of  this  paper  at  least,  I  find  no  harm 
in  large  library  expenditures  for  children,  per  s-r:  and 
that  you  may  understand  why  the  people  of  Cleve- 
land look  Avith  approval  and  proper  pride  on  the 
work  their  library  does  in  this  direction. 

But,  granting  that  Cleveland's  expenditures  for 

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LIBRARIES 

cliildreii  are  legitiuiate,  using  that  word  in  the  sense 
we  have  agreed  on,  are  they  wisely  directed?  I  have 
long  tlionght  that  they  are  in  some  measure  not. 

The  very  fact  that  Cleveland's  school  budget  is  so 
large,  shows  that  it  must  have  a  huge  educational 
system  at  work  for  its  young  people.  Many  things 
done  by  the  library-  could  be  done  more  widely,  more 
intensively  and  more  effectively  by  the  schools. 
Stories,  pictures,  bulletins,  leagues,  clubs,  debates, 
home  visits — all  these  come  more  properly  tlirough 
and  by  an  institution  with  85  huge  buildings,  2,050 
teachers  and  an  expenditure  of  |:i,000,000  per  year 
than  from  a  sister  institution  of  one-tenth  its  size. 

Let  me  interrupt  myself  here  to  say,  that  I  tliffer 
thus  frankly  with  Cleveland  as  to  the  expediency  of 
the  extending  so  far  its  children's  work,  partly  be- 
cause I  am  trying  to  give  you  the  beginnings  of  a 
discussion,  and  partly  because  a  quarter  century's 
whole-hearted  admiration  of  tlie  work  of  Cleveland's 
library  seems  to  permit  a  frank  word  or  two  of 
criticism. 

In  spite  of  the  large  sums  we  spend  for  education 
we  do  not  get  good  teachers.  I  need  not  stop  to  tell 
you  why.  Librarians  think  the  schools — meaning  tlie 
teacliers — do  not  ])roperly  train  pupils  in  knowh'dge 
of  books,  in  their  right  use  and  in  the  habit  of  read- 
ing; consequently,  librarians  say,  we  should  take  over 
as  much  of  this  work  as  we  can,  and  show  teachers 
how  it  should  be  done. 

That  is  a  rough  outline  of  the  argument  by  which 
libraries  justify  the  wide  extension  of  work  with 
children. 

In  reply  it  is  suggested,  that  as  the  book-teaching 
opportunity  lies  at  the  teaclier's  door;  as  she  outnum- 
l)ers  teacliing  assistants  in  libraries  a  hundred  times; 

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THE  MUNICIPAL  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

as  she  comes  in  personal  contact  with  her  pupils  about 
a  thousand  hours  in  a  3'ear  against  ten  to  twenty  for 
the  teaching  librarian;  as  experience  shows  that  she 
can  guide  the  reading  and  book-using  habits  of  her 
pupils  if  and  as  she  will,  then  tlie  chilarens  work 
in  a  library  should  be,  chiefly,  not  with  children,  but 
for  children;  not  in  guiding  children,  but  in  guiding 
teachers. 

In  my  opinion  librarians,  as  soon  as  they  discov- 
ered the  shortcomings  of  our  schools  in  the  matter 
of  reading  guidance,  should  have  set  about  the  task 
of  correcting  those  shortcomings  at  their  fountain- 
head,  to  wit,  in  universities,  colleges,  normal  schools, 
high  schools  and  with  teachers  themselves.  This  has 
not  been  systematically  done.  AA'hile  this  cries  out 
to  be  done  it  seems  a  misdirection  of  energy  to  set  a 
few  young  women,  usually  less  well  equipped  in  the 
pedagogic  art  than  teachers  themselves,  at  the  hope- 
less task  of  supplying  one  all-pervading  lack  in  a 
gigantic  educational  enterprise  by  direct  contact  with 
a  minute  percentage  of  the  vast  product  of  that  same 
enterprise. 

Libraries  in  our  larger  cities,  and  in  many  smaller 
ones  as  well,  have  built  many  very  expensive  branch 
buildings,  usually  with  money  given  by  one  of  the 
amazing  products  of  our  peculiar  economic  con- 
ditions. Concerning  these,  certain  questions  may  be 
raised : 

Are  elaborate  branches  expedient? 

Could  branches  be  housed  to  greater  advantage  in 
school  buildings? 

Are  the  habits  and  feelings  that  work  for  progress 
awakened  when  our  cities  ask  for,  and  accept  as  gifts 
from  outsiders,  certain  costly  additions  to  the  mech- 
anism they  set  up  for  their  own  betterment? 

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LIBRARIES 

These  queries  may  not  be  here  discussed  at  anj 
length ;  partly  because  such  discussion  would  lead  us 
too  soon  from  our  main  topic,  and  partly  becanse  it 
won  Id  be  too  long. 

This  may  perhaps  be  said: 

The  elaborate  and  costly  library  branch  teaches 
by  its  mere  presence,  stirs  civic  pride  in  those  who 
live  near  it,  gives  the  library  a  certain  dignity  and 
importance  Avliich  strengthens  its  hands  for  its  ])r(»])er 
work,  and  has,  usually,  such  meeting  rooms  as  enable 
it  to  act  to  some  extent  as  a  general  civic  and  ednca- 
tional  center  for  its  immediate  neighborhood. 

But  its  elaborateness  perhaps  repels  some  wlio 
would  most  like  to  use  the  books  it  contains,  and 
promotes  the  growth  of  the  feeling  that  the  institu- 
tion it  represents  is,  after  all,  not  the  community's 
own  j)eculiar  product,  bnt  a  mere  bit  of  l)ounty,  of 
belated  justice  in  the  garb  of  charity. 

It  is  now  generally  agreed  that  school  l)nildiiigs; 
should  be  used  continuously  by  their  respective  com- 
munities for,  say,  four  thousand  hours  per  year  in- 
stead of  for  the  one  thousand  they  are  now  used.  We 
are  rapidh'  feeling  our  way  to  a  knowledge  of  wliat 
should  be  the  character  of  this  use.  It  may  soon 
appear  that  the  schools  can  i>ro])erly  house  library 
branches.  If  so,  costly  and  elaborate  library  branch 
buildings  will  rarely  be  ercctcMl.  and  more  efficient 
institutions  than  th(\v  conld  ever  honse  will  find 
homes  within  the  same  walls  that  hold  that  very 
mnch  largei'  institution  for  social  betterment  of 
which  the  library  is  the  liand-niaiden — the  ])nblic 
school. 

The  acceptance  of  gifts  coiiii»els  a  certain  com- 
])laisance  toward  the  giver  and  his  ways.  This  is  an 
inevitable   movement   of   the   mind,    and    may   easily 

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THE  .AirXICIPAL  PUBLIC  LIP.RARY 

prove  harmful.  In  the  growth  of  municipal  social- 
ism, as  marked  hx  the  rise,  among  other  things,  of 
public  sch(>ols  and  libraries,  there  lurks  an  abund- 
ance of  dangers.  These  are  surely  accentuated  by 
an  acc()mi)anying  increase  in  Avillingness  to  accept 
what  one  has  not  earned— not  from  one's  fellow  tax- 
payers, but  from  an  unrelated  giver  whose  economic 
manners,  whether  good  or  bad,  we  slnmld  be  able  to 
look  upon  with  perfect  freedom  and  without  the 
squint  inflicted  by  acceptance  of  his  largess. 

Cleveland  has  a  very  large  collection  of  clippings, 
leaflets  and  pamphlets  alphabetized  by  subjeets  and 
arranged  in  many  thousand  large  envelopes.  In 
Newark  we  have  a  similar  group  of  material,  kept  in  a 
vertical  tile  cabinet.  Ours  is  perhaps  used  more 
largely  than  is  Cleveland's  to  relieve  us  of  some  of 
the  terrific  expense  of  cataloging.  We  put  into  it,  at 
a  very  small  cost,  thousands  of  items  which,  if  treated 
in  the  conventional  way,  would  cost  from  25  to  60 
cents  each  to  retain  and  index. 

Both  these  groups  lie  outside,  in  large  part,  the 
generally  accepted  field  of  library  collections,  in  that 
they  cover  the  latest  information,  often  quite  inaccu- 
rate, and  the  latest  opinion,  often  quite  crude,  on 
topics  of  interest  chiefly  to  business  men.  As  labor- 
saving  devices  they  may  be  important,  and  I  am  quite 
sure  they  are;  but  merely  as  such  they  are  not  in 
the  field  of  this  discussion.  As  tools  for  use  in  cater- 
ing to  the  man  of  affairs,  they  may  be  discussed  under 
this  query. 

"Should  the  pul)lic  lil)rary  devote  more  than  a 
very  small  part  of  its  income  to  an  attempt  to  supply 
local  business  with  things  in  print  of  value  to  it?" 

In  Newark  we  answered  the  query  with  a  yes 
several  years  ago.     We  are  still  spending  a  good  deal 

271 


LIBRARIES 

of  money  in  bnikling  up  and  administering  what  we 
call  our  business  resources.  Against  tliis,  perhaps 
the  strongest  argument  is,  that  the  traditional  pur- 
pose of  a  library  is  to  feed  and  protect  the  all-too- 
slender  flame  of  the  lamp  of  learning,  to  foster  those 
more  humane  arts  which  have  never  too  vigorous  a 
growth;  that  just  now  all  the  training  of  our  schools 
tends  to  look  too  directly  to  mere  gainful  ends;  and 
that  at  least  one  field,  that  of  the  guardianship  of 
books,  should  be  tended  with  an  eye  single  to  the 
promotion  of  things  of  the  heart  and  of  the  mind,  and 
not  of  the  pocket. 

In  answer,  more  can  be  said  than  can  be  here  set 
down. 

This  at  least  may  be  noted,  that  the  products  of 
the  press  come  forth  in  a  mighty  and  steadily  increas- 
ing stream ;  that  of  these  products  many  are  of  imme- 
diate value  to  those  who  are  at  work  at  the  very 
admirable  task  of  making  Avhat  man  needs  and  what 
the  present  social  order  leads  him,  almost  compels 
him,  to  long  for;  that  it  is  impossible  to  divide  our 
modern  Amazon  of  print  into  that  whicli  i>lainly 
makes  for  culture  and  that  which  makes  for  better 
production  and  better  distribution  of  products;  that 
as  all  print  comes  to  libraries,  they  must  receive  tlie 
mere  sordidly  helpful  as  well  as  the  admittedly  en- 
nobling; and  that  it  well  becomes  a  librarian  to  put 
to  its  best  use,  within  reasonable  limits  of  cost,  that 
wliich  promises  materially  to  profit  his  constituents 
in  their  daily  task. 

This  may  also  be  said,  in  passing,  that  to  use  the 
printed  things  of  the  day,  even  for  the  loftiest  ends, 
and  certainly  for  the  profit  of  the  man  of  affairs,  the 
(.Id  methods  of  handling,  by  slow  expensive  catalog- 
ing, must  be  abandoned.    We  must  arrange,  use  for  a 

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THE  MUXK^IPAL  VViMAC  JJBRARY 

time,  and  then  tlirow  aside  mncb  ol"  all  that  vast  mass 
of  print  which  the  i)i-ess  now  otters  ns.  W'e  must  no 
loniier  attempt  to  eatah)<>  and  store  for  all  time  more 
than  a  minute  fraction  of  it. 

Hence  that  encyclopedia  of  clii)i)ings  in  Cleve- 
land and  that  elaborate  and  costly  tilinj^-  system  which 
we  in  Newark  call  the  most  valnable  of  all  our 
departments. 

It  may  be  said  that  any  well-selected  city  library 
normally  obtains  and  makes  accessible  all  the  print 
that  the  men  of  affairs  in  that  city  will  care  to  nse. 
To  which  I  reph',  that  we  think  onr  business  branch 
in  Newark  has  demonstrated  the  contrary.  It  has 
been  exploited  enough  elsewhere,  and  I  can  here  say 
only  that  its  strictly  business  features  absorb  only  a 
small  part  of  our  annual  outgo;  its  presence  and  use 
introduce  the  library  to  a  part  of  the  public  which  in 
most  cities  never  meet  book  collections,  and  that  very 
strong  testimony  to  its  usefulness  and  its  rationality 
appears  in  the  eti'orts  made  in  other  cities  to  establish 
institutions  like  it. 

In  most  cities  libraries  use  deposit  stations,  which 
are  small  collections  of  books  jdaced  on  open  shelves, 
usually  in  drug  stores,  with  a  small  bonus  to  the 
owners  of  the  stores  on  each  book  lent.  These  are 
moderately  successful.  But  it  is  somcAvliat  doubtful 
if  this  unsupervised  distribution  of  books,  chiefly 
recent  popular  novels,  is  worth  the  cost. 

An  extension  of  this  same  method  leads  to  the 
traveling  library,  so-called,  perhaps,  because  it  trav- 
els from  the  lilu'ary  to  its  appointed  place  and  back 
again  in  one  package;  whereas  the  deposit  station 
books  stay  where  put,  save  as  they  are  changed  in 
part  from  day  to  day  or  week  to  week,  as  borroAvers 
may  make  requests. 


18 


LIBRARIES 

Cleveland  uses  iiuiiiy  traveling  libraries;  Newark 
has  eleven.  New  York  has  carried  the  idea  further 
than  any  other  city.  It  sends  books  to  703  centers 
other  than  schools  and  recreation  centers,  lending  l»y 
this  means  over  300,000  volumes  per  year. 

Thus  it  reaches  at  coniparativeh'  small  cost  people 
in  institutions  who  would  otherwise  be  without  the 
use  of  books,  being  inmates  of  hospitals  or  confined  in 
prisons;  advertises  the  lil»rary  and  the  pleasures  of 
books  to  people  not  of  the  reading  habit;  brings  into 
connection  with  the  library  influential  persons  con- 
nected with  many  public  institutions  and  with 
business  enterprises. 

Conversely,  the  use  of  these  books  has  very  little 
supervision  by  the  library,  this  depending  on  the 
workers  who  assume  the  responsibility  therefor,  and 
ma}'  do  it  well  or  ill. 

A  library  can  promote  interest  in  the  fine  and 
applied  arts  in  its  city.  How  far  should  it  go  in 
doing  this?  Most  libraries  go  a  very  little  way.  They 
seem  content,  as  to  art,  with  their  material  enswathe- 
ment  of  brick,  stone  and  mortar,  an  enswathement 
usually  of  doubtful  beauty  and  of  manifest  unfitness. 
Some  venture  on  a  bust,  or  a  bronze,  or  a  large  photo- 
graph or  two  of  accredited  art  objects,  of  a  past  so 
remote  that  in  contemplating  them  criticism  is  (juite 
lost  in  reverence.  A  good  many  have  photograph  col- 
lections, and  here  again  time  has  usually  made  the 
selection  and  not  the  needs  of  the  library's  clientele. 
All  libraries  collect  "art  works."  The  phrase  is  com- 
monly used  to  cover  any  wry  large  and  expensive 
volume  with  pictures  in  it.  A  book  from  the  Xnle 
press  would  by  most  be  considered  as  unusual  and 
be  reverenced  for  its  price;  but  would  not  be  con- 
sidered an  "art  work." 

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THE  MUNICIPAL  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

Four  or  five  libraries  have  made  collections  of 
prints.  That  more  have  not  done  so  is  of  course  due 
to  two  things :  the  public  does  not  care  for  them,  and, 
as  our  schools  and  colleges  do  not  mention  them  in 
their  courses,  librarians  scarcely  recognize  them  as 
art. 

Now,  are  fine  and  applied  art  subjects  in  wliich 
libraries  should  concern  themselves,  save  through  the 
purchase  and  cataloging  of  books  and  journals  there- 
on?    No  answer  is  forthcoming. 

In  Newark  we  have  collected,  partly  by  gift  but 
chiefly  by  purchase,  a  few  paintings,  a  good  many 
bronzes,  a  great  number  of  vases,  and  a  group  of 
prints  so  large  that  we  may  almost  say  that  we  have 
a  print  department.  The  paintings  are  not  very  good, 
and  as  in  my  opinion  oil  paintings  occupy  much  too 
large  a  part  of  the  art  field  in  the  minds  of  most,  I 
am  rather  glad  they  are  no  better.  Our  bronzes  are 
chiefly  inexpensive  copies  of  antique  heads.  Our 
vases  are  neither  rare  nor  costly;  but  as  rarity  and 
cost  have  nothing  to  do  with  art  or  beauty,  we  feel 
at  liberty  to  think  them  beautiful. 

Our  prints  begin  with  the  exquisite  auto-litho- 
graphs of  modern  German  artists — and  some  of  these 
are  on  tlie  walls  of  the  main  building  and  many  of 
the  branches — and  go  on  through  the  products  of  all 
the  processes  and  methods  of  reproducing  pictures, 
and  are  accompanied  by  much  material  illustrative 
of  the  manner  of  print-production.  This  collection 
has  cost  a  good  deal  of  money  and  a  great  deal  of 
time  and  thought.  Few  admire  it  or  enjoy  our  other 
modest  art  objects.  On  first  view  they  have  not  paid, 
and  to  procure  them,  has  tlierefore  not  been  expedient. 
Nevertheless,  I  believe  the  attention  given  to  them 
has  lain  within  our  legitimate  field,  and  I  am  sure 

275 


LIBRARIES 

that  most  libraries  slioiikl  give  more  heed  to  tliese 
same  things.  I  do  not  say  this  because  our  modest 
art  collections  and  the  art  exhibitions  we  have  given 
ill  our  lecture  rooms  have  led  to  the  establishment  in 
Newark  of  museums  of  tine  and  applied  art;  but  be- 
cause it  seems  obvious  that  a  li1)rary,  gathering  as  it 
does  the  record  of  all  the  arts,  should,  in  its  minor 
adornments,  use  some  of  the  very  products  themselves 
of  some  of  those  arts. 

Moreover,  nohlcssic  oblige^  we  are  granted  by  our 
positions  a  good  opportunity  to  share  as  well  as  to 
tell,  to  suggest  by  actual  object  as  well  as  to  preach 
through  the  chosen  page.  Life  is  far  too  short,  at 
best;  but  happily  is  easily  lengthened  by  multiplying 
the  interests  of  the  day  and  of  the  emotions  whicli  the 
new  interests  arouse. 

Large  educational  and  decorative  pictures — 
chiefly  the  lithographs  issued  by  German  publishers 
to  illustrate  history,  geography — including  ma]ts — 
geology,  botany,  zoology,  ethnology,  anatomy,  as])ects 
of  nature,  architecture,  painting  and  many  other 
subjects  cost  from  30  cents  to  |1.50  each,  unmounted. 
The  library  of  Newark  seems  to  be  the  only  one  that 
has  spent  time  and  money  on  the  acquisition  and  lend- 
ing of  these  i)ictures.  We  have  about  1,500,  mounted 
on  heavy  cardboard,  bound  in  black,  fitted  with  eyelets 
for  hanging,  classified  and  indexed  and  arranged  like 
cards  in  a  catalog  for  easy  inspection.  I  send  a 
l)ani]>hlet  descriptive  <tf  them  and  of  the  manner 
of  their  use. 

Each  year  we  lend  to  teachers  for  school  room  use 
and  to  principals  for  scliool  decoration  about  1,400 
from  our  collection. 

Is  this  expedient?  No  definite  answer  is  forth- 
coming.    The  time  and  money  spent  on  them  would 

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THE  MUNICIPAL  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

have  added  a  few  thousand  books  to  our  shelves.  The 
increase  of  the  home  use  of  books  this  addition  would 
have  brought  us  would  have  been  about  GO  per  cent 
fiction.  Would  the  increase  in  liome  use  of  books — 
or  in  their  reference  use  at  the  library — have  been  of 
as  much  value  to  the  city  as  has  been  the  use  made 
of  the  pictures  by  and  for  our  young  people?  I  be- 
lieve not.  I  am  confident  that  in  time  the  scliool 
authorities  will  take  over  this  work  and  carry  it  out 
much  more  fully  than  the  library  ever  can.  Under 
the  peculiar  conditions  found  in  Newark — conditions 
which  I  cannot  here  describe — this  picture  work 
seems  to  promise  certain  advertising  and  educational 
results  of  value  to  the  whole  community.  Certain 
of  those  results  we  feel  we  have  attained. 

Many  libraries  formerly  spent  much  time  in  mak- 
ing picture  bulletins.  These  were  usually  groups  of 
rather  snmll  pictures,  gathered  from  many  sourcc^s, 
mounted  on  large  cards  and  accompanied  with  rather 
elaborate  hand-lettering,  intended  to  be  beautiful 
rather  than  legible,  and  all  planned  to  arouse  the 
interest  of  children  in  certain  books  or  certain -groups 
of  books.  These  bulletins  were  exposed  in  children's 
rooms,  usually  near  the  books  to  which  they  called 
attention. 

This  work  seemed  to  give  more  pleasure  and  profit 
to  the  makers  than  to  the  beholders.  It  was  not  good 
from  the  art  point  of  view,  and  it  had  not  a  very 
strong  pedagogic  basis. 

The  Newark  picture  collection  is  not  in  bulletin 
form  and  the  appeal  it  may  make  to  teachers  is  only 
one  of  the  objects  had  in  view  in  forming  it.  It  is 
an  iconographic  encyclopedia.  It  consists  of  more 
than  50,000  pictures  mounted  singly,  each  on  a  sepa- 
rate card,  13x171/4  inches  in  size,  labeled  on  the  card's 

277 


LIBRARIES 

upper  left  corner,  classified  under  900  headings,  and 
arranged  alphabetically  in  a  series  of  boxes,  so  ad- 
justed that  examination  is  as  easy  as  the  examination 
of  a  card  catalog.  In  portfolios,  also  classified  and 
labeled,  arranged  with  and  among  the  cards  are  about 
300,000  more  pictures,  clipped  and  classified,  but 
unmounted.  Also  there  is  always  on  hand  a  vast 
mass  of  material  Avaiting  to  be  clipped  and  arranged. 

Many  groups  of  mounts  illustrate  specific  subjects, 
like  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  the  nesting  of 
birds. 

These  pictures  are  open  to  the  public.  As  they 
include  such  subjects  as  design  (3,000  items  under 
65  heads),  architecture,  lettering,  portraits,  sculpture 
and  painting,  they  meet  the  needs  of  a  wide  range 
of  inquirers.  We  lend  for  home  use  about  57,000  per 
year. 

One  must  question  the  expediency  of  all  this — and 
get  no  decisive  answer  to  the  question.  Picture  books 
for  children  are  regarded  as  proper  library  purchases. 
Art  works,  full  of  pictures  and  quite  expensive,  are 
also  proper  acquisitions,  for  adults.  From  these  pic- 
tures and  books  and  art  works,  many  of  which  we 
have  cut  up,  mounted  and  placed  in  our  collection,  is 
an  easy  and  quite  logical  step  to  an  encyclo])e(lin  of 
])ictures,  covering  pretty  much  every  topic  cn])abb'  of 
being  depicted,  and  adapted  to  both  old  and  young. 
A  boolv  containing  350,000  illustrations,  arranged  by 
subjects  under  lieadings  wliich  serve  as  descri])tive 
legends,  cannot  be  found  in  the  market.  As  it  cannot 
be  bought,  is  it  not  proper  for  a  library  to  constrnct 
it? 

We  have  gathered,  arranged  and  indexed  the 
names  and  some  of  the  publications  of  about  1,500 
of  what  may  be  called  i>ublic-welfare  organizations, 

278 


THE  MUNICIPAL  TUBLIC  LIBRARY 

non-profit-seeking  societies  bnt  by  no  means  all  charit- 
able, chiefly  American.     We  found  this  material  often 
furnished  our  readers  with  later  in  formation  on  many 
topics  than  we  could  gather  for  them  from  any  otlier 
sources.     It   is   included   in   the   vertical   file   group 
already  alluded  to.     Much  of  it  is  received  as  gifts. 
but  the  cost  of  securing  it  through  correspondence  is 
quite  considerable,  and  to  index  it  and  arrange  it 
properly  demands  a  good  deal  of  time  of  skilled  per- 
sons.    We  have  had  no  reason  to  question  its  value 
or  the  propriety  of  permitting  it  to  absorl)  a  small 
per  cent  of  our  annual  outlay.     Much  of  this  material 
is  ephemeral,  being  extremely  useful  today  and  be- 
coming quite  useless  lumber  in  six  months  or  a  year. 
Our  vertical  file  plan  provides  for  a  semi-automatic 
weeding  out  and  casting  aside  of  such  of  its  contents 
as  have  passed  their  usefulness. 

Mr.  John  A.  Lapp,  librarian  of  the  ^tate  Library 
of  Indiana,  has  recently  been  maintaining  a  bureau 
for  the  collection  and  distribution  of  information  on 
public  affairs.  He  covers  particularly  the  field  of 
legislation,  state  and  municipal.  A  few  public  and 
other  libraries  paid  |25.00  per  year  for  the  service  his 
bureau  rendered,  which  consisted  of  a  weekly  series 
of  typed  statements  on  the  more  important  matters 
in  the  field  covered.  He  did  not  furnish  books  or  pam- 
phlets, or  indexes  to  either;  but  chiefly  notes  guiding 
US  to  the  printed  story  of  notable  happenings  iu  the 
very  complex  and  rapidly  changing  world  of  state 
and  city  management. 

This  service  is  soon  to  be  enlarged,  and  will  cost 
four  times  the  present  price.  To  accept  it  is  to  co- 
operate with  other  libraries  in  an  endeavor  to  secure, 
at  moderate  cost,  so  much  of  a  vieAv  of  public  affairs 
in  our  country  as  will  enable  us  to  select  from  the 

279 


LIIJKARIES 

whole  iield  so  much  again,  as  proDiises  to  be  of  value 
to  our  own  commnnity.  We  believe,  that  although 
this  worlv  is  quite  remote  from  book-buying  and  book- 
lending,  it  is  in  fact  a  long  step  toward  that  kind  of 
library  management  whicli  new  conditions  are  forcing 
upon  us.  All  the  world's  activities  are  now  put  down 
hi  print;  this  gives  us  more  print  than  we  can  gather 
and  more  tium  we  could  use  even  if  we  could  gather 
it.  We  must  now  select  and,  of  that  which  we  select 
we  must  soon  discard  as  useless  the  larger  part.  Co- 
operation in  selection  in  one  important  field — this  is 
what  Mr.  Lapp's  work  gives  us. 

Were  this  not  in  print  1  would  not  venture  to  send 
it,  for  it  is  far  too  long  to  be  read  to  any  audience. 
I  have  chosen  a  few  things  out  of  a  vast  field,  hoping 
some  of  the  things  chosen  may  arouse  an  interesting 
discussion. 

I  regret  that  I  was  led  to  speak  so  fully  of  our 
own  Newark  activities.  l>nt,  after  all,  they  probably 
illustrate  fairly  well  what  is  going  on  over  here,  and 
I  can  describe  tliem  more  accurately  than  I  can  those 
of  other  libraries. 

To  refer  to  Cleveland  once  more,  let  me  suggest 
that  any  who  are  interested  in  the  wider  field  of  tlu^ 
municipal  library's  activities  would  do  well  to  get  the 
last  Cleveland  report,  and  therein  read  of  wliat 
American  librarians  consider  legitimate  activities 
wiselv  conducted. 


280 


WHAT  NEXT? 

Delivered  before  tJie  Xeir  Yorl'  Lihniri/  Association, 
Oetoher   /.  1015 

I  wrote  this  paper,  a  short  time  aj-o,  in  the  ureen 
hills  of  Vermont.  When  I  fonnd  that  1  had  to  leave 
those  green  hills  and  spend  a  day  in  the  woods  of 
New  York  state,  that  I  might  read  this  paper  to 
TOii,  I  was  somewhat  irritated.  Perhaps  the  condi- 
tions led  me  to  make  this  paper,  not  exaetlv  irritat- 
ing itself,  and  I  hope  not  peevish,  but  slightly  critical ; 
not  critical,  however,  of  New  York  librarians,  critical 
only  of  librarians  in  general. 

While  1  was  not  feeling  peevish  toward  New 
Yorkers  when  I  wrote  the  paper  I  must  admit  that, 
with  a  Yermonter,  there  is  always  a  tendency  for 
irritation  to  arise  when  he  comes  into  the  presence 
of  a  New  Yorker.  You  know  the  reason  why.  It  is 
because  of  the  scandalous  treatment  which  the  people 
of  New  York  gave  to  the  people  of  the  (ireen  Moun- 
tains 140  years  ago.  In  those  days  Gov.  Benning 
Wentworth,  holding  sway,  as  he  claimed,  over  lands 
west  of  the  Connecticut  Kiver,  granted  some  of  them 
to  true  men  from  Connecticut  and  ^Massachusetts. 

These  good  men  came  north  into  the  wilderness 
and  took  possession  of  their  grants  and  set  themselves 
to  the  ardu(ms  task  of  reclaiming  and  taming  them. 

Thereupon  certain  New  Yorkers  of  detestable 
memory  also  laid  claim  to  these  New  Hampshire 
grants  and  sent  certain  people  across  Lake  Champlain 
to  take  possession  thereof.  The  Vermonters,  already 
on  the  ground,  persuaded  of  the  righteousness  of  the 
cause  and  the  justice  of  their  holdings,  caught  these 
intruding  New  Yorkers,  tied  them  to  trees,  and  im- 

281 


LIBRARIES 

pressed  on  their  backs  the  "beech  seal/'  the  instru- 
ments of  application  being  rods  cut  from  beech  trees. 
So  irritated  were  the  New  Yorkers  by  the  treatment 
which  thej  received  at  the  hands  of  those  best  of 
men,  the  boys  of  the  Green  Mountains,  that  when 
Vermont,  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  a])i)lied  for 
admission  to  the  Union,  as  the  fourteenth  state,  an 
opposition  was  formed  at  AVashington,  largeh'  oper- 
ated by  New  Yorkers,  which  resulted  in  preventing 
Vermont  from  becoming  one  of  the  United  States. 
The  Vermonters,  irritated  in  their  turn,  declared,  by 
the  mouth  of  Ira  Allen,  brother  of  the  famous  Ethan, 
that  so  long  as  such  corruption  ruled  in  the  courts 
of  the  federation  of  states  they  would  withdraw  into 
the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains  and  sul)mit  them- 
selves to  the  beasts  of  the  woods  and  the  justice  of 
Jehovah.  And  they  did  so.  For  thirteen  years  Ver- 
mont was  an  independent  republic,  owing  allegiance 
to  none. 

Y^ou  can  understand,  now,  why  Vermonters  are 
sometimes  irritated  when  they  stand  in  the  presence 
of  NeAV  Y^orkers. 

As  the  criticisms  in  tliis  paper  may  be  taken  too 
seriously,  let  me  first  read  something  wliich  truly 
expresses  my  own  view  of  your  excellences.  Having 
heard  this  you  will  understand  that  I  am  not  seri- 
ously critical  of  the  workings  of  your  association: 
''P.oth  directly  and  indii-ectly,  it  has  been  and  is  today 
a  i)ositive  benelit  to  every  library  and  every  librarian 
in  the  state.  From  the  beginning  it  has  stood 
strongly  for  the  best  library  ideas  and  policies,  and 
has  been  an  eft'ective  force  in  having  those  ideas  em- 
bodied in  the  state's  laws  and  practices.  It  has  stood 
always  for  the  most  liberal  treatment  of  libraries  by 
leiiislators  and  local  authorities  and  its  recommenda- 

282 


WHAT  NEXT? 

tioiis  have  been  influential  factors  in  securing  sucli 
treatment.  It  lias  been  zealous  in  ]>i-<»niotini;-  high 
standards  for  libran-  work.  .  .  .  i^ibrary  training 
in  normal  schools,  instruction  in  the  use  of  books  and 
libraries  in  public  schools — ideas  Avhich  are  now- 
being  accepted  in  all  the  more  progressive  of  these 
institutions,  are  ideas  Avhich  had  their  first  formal 
promulgation  and  recommendation  in  this  state  at  a 
meeting  of  this  association  at  Twilight  Park,  just  nine 
years  ago." 

The  war  has  shown  us  that  we  are  quite  uncivil- 
ized; are  still  able  to  act  like  dogs  quarreling  over 
a  bone.  Even  in  this  countr3-  the  war  spirit  is  so 
prevalent  as  to  show  that  our  Avork  with  the  "best 
books,"  our  children's  libraries,  our  classics,  our 
stories  and  all  our  other  well-meaning  exertions  have 
not  abated  and  prol)ably  never  will  abate  man's  native 
ferocity.  When  Mars  is  talking  books  have  to  sit 
still.  Librarians  cannot  prevent  the  breakdown  of 
civilization!     What,  then,  can  they  do? 

I  find  no  maxim  suited  to  the  occasion,  unless  it  is 
"Let  us  be  hundde."  And  in  the  midst  of  our  humil- 
ity let  us  take  a  lesson  from  the  English  and  find 
humor  in  our  own  doings  and  in  the  antics  of  our 
enemies — ignorance  and  sin. 

But  to  invite  you  to  a  feast  of  humble  pie  is  neither 
to  prophesy  nor  to  exhort;  and  you  expect  one  or 
both.  Do  you  not?  Wliat  I  seem  to  need  first  is  a 
message,  and  I  liad  ]io]»ed  to  find  a  message  suited  to 
the  troul)led  times.  I  do  not  wisli  to  preach  busin(\ss 
literature  or  maps  or  special  libraries,  though  some- 
thing on  each  of  these  may  be  expected.  I  wish  to 
disappoint  your  expectations,  of  course. 

In  seeking  for  a  bit  of  advice  to  give  you  which 
should  be  appropriate  to  a  time  of  universal  war,  I 

2S3 


LIBRARIES 

said  to  myself,  "Surely  the  jitney  tuitl  the  tiyiiig  ma- 
chine and  the  gas  engine,  their  parent;  tlie  movie,  the 
vietrola,  tlie  snhmarine,  tlie  aeroplane,  the  type-caster, 
the  otlset  press,  and  the  war;  to  say  nothing  of  tele- 
phone and  wireless,  have  changed  the  fonndations  of 
human  life,  and  tlie  conditions  thereof;  and  snrely 
from  a  large  view  of  these  changes  and  of  the  revehi- 
tions  war  has  given  us,  should  come  a  message,  a 
definite  program,  for  at  least  a  part  of  our  activities. 
But  I  seem  unable  to  talce  the  snilhciently  large  view. 

Perhaps  our  work  is  so  trivial  tluit  no  industrial 
or  social  changes  and  no  revelations  of  our  moral 
state  which  the  war  tells  us  is  wry  low,  can  attVu-d 
any  reasons  for  modifyiug  it. 

At  present  that  is  my  own  view.  The  library,  like 
the  school,  is  merely  an  unimportant  by-i)roduct  of  Ji 
certain  stage  of  invention,  discovery  and  social  ar- 
rangement. As  a  by-product  it  is  amusing,  to  some 
degree  entertaining  and  to  a  very  slight  degree  dis- 
tinctly useful.  Hut  it  is  so  much  a  ])roduct  and  so 
small  and  insignificant  a  product  and  to  so  small  a 
degree  a  factor  that  it  can  find,  in  the  social  and 
economic  changes  and  hideous  moral  revelations  of 
the  time,  no  new  doctrines  for  its  guidance  as  a 
practical,  efficient  factor. 

If  I  am  not  right  in  this  present  view  then  we 
ought  among  us  all  to  be  able  to  say  something  like 
this:  "The  movie  is  doing  this  and  that  to  change  our 
fellows;  the  gas  engine  is  bringing  the  city  to  the 
country  and  ince  versa ;  the  offset  press  and  the  type- 
caster  and  the  nu'chanical  etcher  ai*e  doing  this  and 
that;  the  fiying  machine  i)romises  this,  the  i)hono- 
graph  and  vietrola  that,  and  the  war  shows  that  we 
are  as  black  as  we  can  ])aint  ourselves  and  that  solid- 
arity of  men  and  j)arliaineuts  of  nations  are  dreams; 

284 


WHAT  NEXT? 

therefore,   we   librarians   slionid   gird   on    the   whole 

armor  of  our  excellences  and  do"" Well,   what 

should  we  do? 

Having  shown  that  onr  work  is  so  slight  and  that 
we  are  so  much  more  results  than  we  are  causes  that 
even  world-changes  give  us  no  new  moral  codes  and 
no  new  moral  banners  to  lift  on  high,  I  am  driven  to 
repetition,  to  cast  in  new  forms  a  few  of  our  old 
maxims.  To  say,  for  example,  that  who  sweeps  a 
room  in  accordance  with  common  sense  makes  both 
room  and  action  line,  especially  if  he  sprinkle  the 
room  with  the  fresh  water  of  a  kindly  humor!  Being 
unimportant  let  us  be  so  smilingly.  Let  us  exalt  our 
calling  for  our  own  stimulation  and  make  it  so  enter- 
taining that  our  absence  Avould  be  missed  even  though 
we  have  no  speaking  part. 

I  was  first  asked  to  speak  to  you  al)out  what  the 
library  of  the  future  may  be  as  a  practical  institution. 
I  changed  the  title  to  "What  next"?'"  because,  when  I 
came  to  examine  my  topic,  I  found  the  reluctance 
with  which  I  accepted  your  invitation  was  more  than 
justified  by  my  poverty  of  ideas.  Not  an  absolute 
poverty,  let  me  hasten  to  say,  for  the  creative  moments 
of  our  friend  Bergson,  when  I  feel  that  I  am  myself 
an  original  first  cause,  are  not  more  rare  than  they 
ever  were.  My  poverty  of  ideas  disclosed  itself  as 
quite  complete  when,  as  my  opening  remarks  have 
told  you,  I  asked  myself  this  question :  "Our  fellow 
men  having  proved  themselves  fundamentally  uncivi- 
lized, in  spite  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  centuries  of 
books,  five  centuries  of  printers  and  forty  years  of 
zealous  and  mission-hearted  American  librarians, 
w^hat  should  the  said  American  librarians  do?" 

Do  you  say  that  we  should  go  on  putting  the  right 
book  in  the  rigiit  hands  at  the  right  moment?     And 

285 


LIBRARIES 

will  that  per!>iuide  any  not  to  lij^lit,  or  to  make  slicUs, 
or  to  sell  munitions  or — except  Mr.  Rockefeller — to 
lend  money  to  those  who  are  fighting?  Some  have 
said  to  me  that  it  were  better  for  mankind  if  in  my 
own  library  work  I  put  less  emphasis  on  industry  and 
more  on  culture  and  uplift;  less  on  mere  books  and 
more  on  books  of  power ;  less  on  directories  and  more 
on  Walter  Pater  and  Henry  Van  Dyke.  And  I  must 
reply  by  saying  that  the  nations  that  have  most 
freely  wallowed  for  several  centuries  in  "books  of 
power"  are  the  ones  which  are  now  wading  deepest  in 
one  another's  blood ! 

I  am  perfectly  well  aware  that  you  do  not  think  I 
am  giving  you  the  practical  talk  to  which  you  are 
entitled.  But  I  think  I  am.  The  first  thing  to  do 
when  you  are  going  to  build  is  to  survey  the  site. 
The  site  for  the  practical — and  the  word  as  it  was 
given  to  me,  of  course,  meant  useful — for  the  useful 
library  edifice  Ave  hope  to  build  is  right  in  the  center 
of  poor  human  nature,  and  tliis  center  is  now  a 
morass  of  greed,  servility,  prejudice,  national  hatred 
and  general  beastliness,  as  Europe  demonstrates. 
Surely  it  is  an  entirely  practical  proceeding  first  to 
look  frankly  at  this  morass  and  learn,  if  we  can, 
if  libraries  will  help  a  little  in  its  drainage  and  puri- 
fication, before  we  draw  our  plans  and  certainly 
before  we  venture  to  gaze  with  holy  joy  on  the  mere 
mirage  of  a  noble  and  useful  stnu-ture  born  of  the 
heat  of  a  baseless  enthusiasm  I 

Now,  if  you  will  grant  that  the  s]>irit  which  makes 
wars  is  so  firmly  rooted  in  us  l»y  the  thousands  of 
years  of  fighting  through  w]ii(  li  man  came  to  be  what 
he  is  that  it  cannot  be  eradicated  save  by  centuries  of 
effort;  and  if  you  will  grant  that  you  cannot  properly 
today  treat  of  the  future  of  the  library  as  a  useful 

286 


WHAT  NEXT? 

thing  without  tirst  of  all  cxaiuiiiiiig  its  possible 
activities  in  the  light  of  a  frightful  war;  and  if  you 
grant  that  as  an  institution  for  ending  war  it  is  (|uite 
negligible,  even  if  it  heroicallj-  holds  to  red  ink  on 
its  catalog  cards,  and  stands  solidly  for  the  ribbon 
arrangement  of  fiction,  and  refuses  to  buy  any  more 
of  Mr.  Ciiand)ers"  novels— then  I  will  leave  the  subject 
and  retnrn  to  fault-finding,  advice  and  prognosis. 

Librarians  are  continually  coming  together  to 
hear  the  talk  of  persons  who  have  never  written  great 
books.  That  is  a  strange  performance  for  persons 
whose  mission  in  life  it  is  to  induce  people  to  read 
the  best  books,  is  it  not?  I  suppose  it  is  true  that 
those  who  cannot  read  must  listen,  or  die  in  igno- 
rance. ]>ut  librarians  can  surely  gather  an  ample 
supply  of  sweetness  and  riches  from  the  printed  page. 
Indeed,  they  are  so  skilled  in  this  art,  and  have  so 
great  a  faith  in  it,  that  they  preach  countless  sermons 
on  it.  L>ut,  if  librarians  can  read  to  profit,  why  do 
they  so  often  meet  to  listen?  They  call  the  young 
away  from  the  talker  on  the  street,  they  rush  books 
into  a  village  to  divert  the  participants  from  their 
local  academy  of  the  country  store,  they  preach  read- 
ing early  and  late,  and  write  hymns  to  the  printed 
page,  and  burn  incense  before  the  bound  volume;  and 
then  they  run  off  to  a  meeting  to  hear  somebody  say 
a  little  something  that  has  been  better  said  in  print, 
if  it  was  ever  worth  saying  at  all ! 

Oh!  of  course,  there  is  the  interchange  of  spirit  at 
the  meeting;  the  magic  of  together,  and  the  informal 
discussions  where  we  learn  so  much,  and  the  inspira- 
tional atmosphere — of  this  paper,  for  example !  But, 
first,  if  those  are  the  things  for  which  library  meet- 
ings exist,  why  not  omit  the  talks?  And,  second, 
according  to  the  missionary  literature  of  our  sect, 

287 


]jr,KAlUES 

there  is  iiotliiiii;  >>o  iipliftiiiji,-,  so  liiima.iiiziui;  and 
even  so  informing  as  books.  Keally  and  trnly,  now, 
can  von  deny  that  books  are  nobler,  more  masterly, 
more  spiritnal,  more  inspirational,  more  vitally  social 
than  any  talk  at  any  inn  even  by  an  intelligent  libra- 
rian and  still  more  intelligent  laymen? 

1  will  now  tnrn  abont  and  admit  that  there  are 
certain  good  things  which  can  be  accomplished  only 
throngh  meetings  like  tliis.  IJiit  1  am  (piite  sure  that 
there  are  too  many  of  these  meetings.  And  I  am 
sure,  also,  that  yon  (mght  to  bring  to  your  meetings 
much  more  of  definite,  careful  work;  1  mean  the 
clearly  stated  results  of  hai-d  work  of  the  previous 
year.  This  work  is  waiting  to  be  done.  Then  these 
results  should  be  i)rinte(l  and  made  available  to  the 
library  world. 

Is  that  what  you  call  a  practical  suggestion?  Do 
you  admit  that  the  library  as  a  practical  institution 
would  be  much  more  intiuential  if  ycm  all  accepted 
your  own  primal  and  oft  repeated  doctrine  and  read 
and  studied  each  year  more  of  those  good  books  you 
are  pressing  upon  others;  if  you  then  formulated  the 
conclusions  of  your  reading  and  your  study,  and 
compared  notes  with  one  another;  and  if  you  then,  at 
occasional  meetings  like  this,  bi-ought  out  your  con- 
clusions to  be  tested;  and  if,  finally,  having  found 
that  a  promising  residuum  is  left,  gave  it  to  tlu^ 
world? 

I  have  for  long  years  preached  and  written  on  this 
practical  suggestion;  but  the  preaching  and  the  writ- 
ing have  not  persuaded  you,  and,  not  at  all  to  uiy 
suri)rise,  you  ]>ersist  in  your  iutem])erauce  in  listen- 
ing. Though  avowed  ]>rotagonists  of  the  i)ractice  of 
reading,  in  your  hearts  yow  are  worshippers  of 
preachers.     You  ]»ray  for  more  eye-mindedness  in  the 

288 


WHAT  NEXT? 

world;  but  are  yourselves  ear-miuded.  You  are  not 
ashamed  to  feel  that  you  are  exercisiuji'  and  strenuth- 
ening  your  intellects  at  meetings  like  this,  when  you 
are,  in  fact,  merely  gratifying  your  auditory  centers 
with  the  cadences  of  a  tinkling  voice.  Ignorant  non- 
readers,  of  whom  the  world  is  full,  must  be  permitted 
to  listen  much.  They  must  even  be  permitted  to 
think  that  they  have  greatly  developed  their  intellects 
when  they  have  once  heard  a  man  of  note  declaim. 
But,  for  us,  who  are  readers  and  preachers  of  read- 
ing, these  delights  and  satisfactions  in  listening  ought 
to  be  rare  and  greatly  restrained. 

It  was  plain  to  me  that  in  the  title  suggested  for 
my  talk — "the  future  of  the  library  as  a  practical 
institution" — the  word  practical  meant  useful,  liread- 
winning,  business-promotiug.  I  was  to  speak  on  the 
business  man  and  of  the  sweet  influence  on  him  of 
the  last  New  Zealand  year  book  and  of  the  post  route 
map  of  Arkansas;  and  I  was  to  show  that  tlie  library 
of  the  future — not  forgetting  the  things  of  the  spirit, 
oh  no,  by  no  means!  and  not  neglecting  uplift,  and 
not  failing  to  pass  a  kind  word  to  inspiration  as  I 
went  along — I  was  to  show  that  the  library  of  the 
future  will  surely  soon  take  its  place  as  a  useful  and 
important  factor  in  the  world  of  affairs.  Well,  in  my 
opinion,  I  do  not  need  to  prove  to  you  that  libraries 
are  going  to  be  far  more  useful,  far  more  practical, 
far  more  closely  allied  to  industrialism  than  they 
have  ever  been.  Their  advance  in  this  direction  is, 
right  now,  very  rapid,  and  so  open  to  the  observant 
eye  that  any  librarian  who  does  not  see  it  may  be 
sure  that  his  or  her  library  is  not  of  the  kind  which 
most  of  the  libraries  in  the  country  soon  will  be. 

In  time  the  library  is  going  to  be  of  great  impor- 
tance in  the  world;  but  this  importance  will  not  be 

289 

19 


IJBRARIES 

very  fiiH^'  shared  in  l)y  libraries  of  the  present  pre- 
vailing type.  We  shall  be  obliged  to  change  our  scope 
and  methods  a  good  deal  if  we  are  to  become  nsefnlly 
important  or  importantly  nsefnl. 

You  see,  what  the  book  does,  it  does  quietly. 
Even  in  education  the  results  of  its  work  are  not 
obvious.  One  boy  studies  books  and  his  brain 
develops;  but  father  and  old  Vox  Populi  cannot  see 
his  brain,  and  cannot  realize  that  his  work  on  books 
is  producing  results.  Another  boy  hammers  a  piece 
of  perfectly  good  copper  into  something  as  ugly  as 
sin,  and  this  the  father  and  Vox  Populi  can  see  at 
once  is  a  result,  a  product,  and  they  admire,  and 
wonder,  and  say,  "Behold  what  practical  training 
can  do  for  a  boy!" 

And  thereupon  cities  and  universities  proceed  to 
spend  millions  on  equipment  for  practical  training, 
and  a  few  begrudged  hundreds  on  books  with,  i)er- 
haps,  for  the  university,  a  preposterous  monument 
thrown  in  to  fill  the  eye  and  store  the  few  books. 

The  silence  of  the  book  and  the  invisibility  of  its 
handiwork,  these  are  two  of  our  great  handicaps,  not 
to  be  overcome  either  by  talking  ourselves  or  by  listen- 
ing to  great  speakers.  In  spite  of  them,  however,  it  is 
perfectly  obvious  that  the  book — and  the  book  in  the 
new  library  nomenclature  means  print  in  any  form — 
will  soon  be  an  important  factor  in  every  bit  of  the 
world's  handwork.  In  time  we  shall  become  those 
veritable  print-using  animals  which  we  librarians 
have  long  praised  as  the  highest  of  created  beings. 

Here  I  wish  to  pause  and  tell  you  about  three 
things  with  which  I  have  come  in  touch  in  recent 
months  and  which  perhaps  give  point  to  the  facts  on 
which  my  suggestion  is  based :  to  wit,  the  prodigious 
change  in   the   print-producing  and  the  print-using 

290 


WHAT  NEXT? 

habits  that  has  recently  come  upon  us,  and  the  ac- 
companying changes  that  should  be  made  in  library 
administration. 

It  has  been  my  pleasure,  this  summer,  to  have  a 
hand  in  the  beautitication  of,  and  the  work  of,  the 
county  fair  at  Woodstock,  Vermont.  Among  the 
other  things  which  the  committee  I  was  connected 
with  carried  on,  was  this :  They  sent,  at  my  sugges- 
tion, to  about  150  state  institutions  and  social  service 
organizations  having  to  do  with  any  aspect  of  rural 
life,  a  circular  letter  asking  these  organizations  each 
to  send  to  the  county  fair  a  supply  of  the  pamphlet 
literature  they  issue ;  there  to  be  distributed.  As  the 
result  of  these  letters  we  had,  at  the  county  fair, 
many  copies  of  each  of  a  thousand  different  pam- 
phlets on  farm  life.  They  covered  farming  in 
general,  fertilizing,  fence-making,  care  of  stock,  rais- 
ing chickens,  hygiene  in  the  home,  care  of  infants 
and  many  other  topics.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that,  if  these  pamphlets  had  been  printed  in  a  little 
different  form,  after  the  manner  of  the  conventional 
book,  they  would  have  formed  a  library  of  a  thousand 
volumes  of  the  best  and  latest  literature  on  the  farm 
and  farm  life.  These  books,  or  pamphlets,  were  dis- 
played on  shelves  by  kinds  and  distributed  to  all 
comers.  So  much  of  the  literature  as  was  not  taken 
on  these  two  days  will  be  distributed  by  the  local 
superintendent  of  schools.  This  is  library  work  of 
a  new   kind. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  intricate  of  all 
modern  callings  is  that  of  the  credit  man — the  man 
who  decides  for  a  business  house  to  whom  credit  shall 
be  given,  and  for  how  much,  and  under  what  circum- 
stances. To  do  this  work  wisely  he  must  know  his 
United  States  well,  the  character  of  the  population 

291 


LIBRARIES 

ill  the  (liferent  centers,  aud  the  character  and  possi- 
bilities of  the  industries  here  and  there.  These  credit 
men  have  learned  that  the  printed  pa^e  is,  ahove  all 
other  things,  the  most  valuable  tool  they  can  use  in 
acquiring  the  information  they  need.  The  local  asso- 
ciation in  Newark  has  asked  us  to  prepare  a  list  of 
the  best  books  for  the  use  of  credit  men,  in  equipping 
themselves  for  work,  and  have  said  that  they  wish 
this  list  made  as  good  as  possible  and  that  they  will 
pay  the  cost  of  publishing  the  same,  regardless  of  its 
length.  This,  again,  is,  perhaps,  library  work  of  a 
new  kind. 

The  Associated  Advertising  Clubs  of  tlie  World  is 
one  of  the  most  powerful  organizations  of  its  kind. 
Among  the  munj  activities  of  this  organization  is  the 
establishment  of  collections  of  books  for  the  use  of 
advertising  men,  either  independent  libraries  or  de- 
partments in  public  libraries.  I  have  the  good  for- 
tune to  be  the  chairman  of  a  Committee  on  Libraries 
under  the  direction  of  the  General  Committee  on 
Education  of  this  organization  and  hope  to  be  able, 
through  this  position,  to  be  of  assistance  in  promoting 
the  acceptance  by  public  libraries  of  the  doctrine  that 
library  management  must,  in  some  respects,  be 
notably  modified  to  meet  changing  conditions  in  tlie 
use  of  print. 

And  here  comes  my  practical  suggestion  Avliich,  as 
I  hope  you  will  see,  draws  together  and  makes  fairly 
logical  all  that  I  have  been  saying.  The  suggestion 
is  based  on  the  fact  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
all  print  today  is  outside  the  field  of  the  conventional 
library;  and  on  the  further  fact,  partly  a  result  of 
the  first,  that  the  library  of  to-day  is  not  a  very 
important  factor  in  human  life. 

The  suggestion  is  that  you  appoint  a  committee  or 

292 


WHAT  NEXT? 

a  group  of  committees  to  examine  into  and  report 
upon  the  use  of  print  to-day  and  the  rehition  of  the 
present  prevailing  type  of  public  library  to  that  use. 

The  printing  press  is  pouring  out  a  mighty 
stream  of  print.  This  stream  is  helping  to  turn  the 
wheels  of  the  machine  shops  of  human  activity.  Con- 
ventional public  libraries  seem  as  tiny  skiffs  on  this 
stream,  and  their  occupants  as  almost  solely  con- 
cerned with  the  navigation  of  their  resi)ective  skiffs. 
Or,  if  you  prefer  the  figure,  these  libraries  are  as 
backwaters  and  eddies,  turning  flotsam  and  jetsam 
slowly  round  and  round,  with  bits  of  treasure  trove 
scattered  here  and  there  through  the  mass. 

In  any  event,  and  regardless  of  figures  good  or 
bad,  my  advice  is  that  you  discover  where  libraries 
are  to-day,  what  relation  they  bear  to  the  world's  use 
of  print,^  and  then  discover,  if  you  can,  how  that 
relation  can  be  made  one  of  indispensable  utility. 


293 


INDEX 


Advertising  a  library,  85,  115,  127, 
139,  143,  158,  194,  200,  206,  219, 
264 

Advertising,  Incomes  from  news- 
paper, 78 

Aeroplane  delivery   of  books,   149 

All-year  schools,   181,   197 

A.  L.  A.  should  advertise,  10,  85, 
131 

Architecture  of  the  modern  li- 
brary, 24,  54 

Art  works,  collecting,  199,  274 

Arts-and-crafts  movement,  Libra- 
ry a  natural  center  of,  73 

Associated  advertising  clubs  of  the 
world,  292 

Associations,  Library,  state  and 
local,  123 

Attractiveness  of  modern  libra- 
ries, 14,  19 

Automatic  who,  what  and  why 
machine,  150 


Books,  Methods  of  making,  78 
Books,  Preparation  of,  for  library, 

174 
Books,    Use   of,    should    be   taught 

in    schools,    74.    i'3,    165.   269 
Books,  Why  buy?  221 
Branch   libraries,    161,    269 
Brancli    libraries    in    schools,    164, 

181 
Buildings   for   modern   library,    22, 

25,  53,  63 
Bulletins  should  be  small,  117 
Business  branch,  Newark,  200,  206, 

217,  254 
Business     branch,      Newark,     re- 
sources and  use,  213 
Business    literature,    a    legitimate 

part  of  library  coUectioii,  13,  207, 

211,  217,  272 
Buying  books,  33,  65,  221,  222,  226, 

240 


Bibliographies,  Cooperative,  65,  83 
Biography,    Increase   in   children's 

reading  of,  109 
Book  agents.  How  to  treat,  226 
Book  reviewing,  Failure  of,  33 
Book  reviews,  statistics,  35 
Book   reviews;    what   they    should 

be,  37 
Book  selection  for  private  library, 

227 
Book  selection.  Methods  of,  33,  65 
Book  stores,  Second-hand,  226 
Bookcases  for  private  library,  238 
Book-lending  field  of  public  libra- 
ry,  Limits   of,    65 
Booklists,  Special,  annotated,  etc., 

29,  37,  65,  83,  141,  232 
Booklists    to    supplement    general 

catalogue,    57,    117,    223 
Booklists,   Use   of,   by   library,    57, 

117,  198,  223 
Books  for  private  library,  227,  240 
Books,      importance     of     physical 

make-up,   34 
Books,  Increase  in,  53,  79,  247 


Card  catalogue,  Problem  of,  57  59, 

61,    115 
Catalogue  cards,   samples,   172 
Catalogue,    Future  possibilities  of 

the  printed,  61,  14S 
Catalogue   room,    location,   27 
Charging  system,  future  possibili- 
ties,  149 
Children,  Books  for,  94,  108,  159 
Children,   How   to   supply   reading 

for,  160 
Children     in     the    public    library, 

Work  with,  74,  158,  266 
Children,  Reading  habit  in,  49,  74, 

93.  108,  111 
Children's  librarians,    101 
Children's  room,  location,  27 
Children's  work   in  Cleveland,   266 
Church,   The  country,   and   the  li- 
brary,  167 
City,     Instruction    about,     in    the 

schools,  196,  205 
City  management,  Ideals  in.  189 
City's  life.  Place  of  the  public  li- 
brary in,  12,  41,  69,  187 
Class  room  libraries,  163 


295 


INDEX 


Classics,    Reading    of,    234 

Classification  of  books,  57,  173 

Cleveland  public  library,  262,  265, 
271 

Closed  shelf  system,  disadvan- 
tages,   21 

Colleges,  Failure  of,  to  teach  read- 
ing habit,  165 

Complete  works,  225 

Construction,  Economical,  a  ne- 
cessity for  libraries,  23,  54 

Cooperation  between  libraries,  64, 
83 

Cooperation  between  libraries  and 
publishers,    84 

Cooperation  between  libraries  and 
schools,  163 

Cooperation  between  library  and 
church,  167 

Cooperation  between  library  and 
community,  12,  41,  71,  136,  178 

Cooperation  between  library  asso- 
ciations,  123 

Cooperative  bibliographies,  65 

Country  church  and  the  library, 
167 

Course  of  study  on  the  city  of 
Newark,    205. 

Current  information  in  the  library, 
208,  211,  271 


Dead  books  in  libraiies  a  problem, 

59,  62 
Delivery    department,    Automatic, 

149 
Delivery  desk,  its  place  in  making 

a  library  popular,  115 
Delivery  desk,  Location  of,  25 
Delivery    stations.    120 
Deposit  stations,   120,  273 
Dictionar\-,  Buying  a,  224 
Discarding  books,  61,  148 


Editions,  Fine,  237 

Education,   free  public  school  and 

free  public  library  system,  5,  15, 

75,  181 
Education,  Libraries  as  means  of, 

66 


Education  of  children,  5 
Education  of  children  in  the  use  of 

print,   49,   74,   93,   269 
Elimination  of  dead  books,  60 
Eliot,    Pres.,    on    living'   and    dead 

books,  60 
Encyclopedia,  Buying  an,  225 
Enthusiasm,   A   librarian's,   39 
Involution    of    the    special    library, 

243 
Exhibitions  as  a  means  of  making 

a  library  known,  119 
Exhibitions  of  art  objects,  199 


Failure  of  book  reviewing,   33 
Family  librarj-.  Fundamental,  233 
Fiction,    less    will    be    bought    for 

public  libraries,  65 
Fiction,  Reading  of,  28,  70,  97 
Fiction  reviews  not  reliable,  36 
Fiction,    Selection    of,    for    the    li- 
brary, 28,  65,  83,  99 
Fiction,    statistics,    4,    100,    102 
Fiction,   Use  of,  for  reference  and 
equipment    for   this    use,    29,    70 
Fire-proof   buildings,    54 
First  aid  to  the  reading  family,  240 
Foreign  population  and  the  public 

library,   266 
Foreigners,   Books  for,   265 
Free    public    educational    system, 

15,  75,  181 
Furniture  should   be   movable   not 

fixed,  56 
Future   of   the   library,    148 


Geography,    Book    helps    in    teach- 
ing,   108 
Gifts  to  smaller  libraries,  13 


Harper,    Pres.,    on   the   library.    60 
High    school   reading   list,    198 
History,     Increase     in     children's 

reading   of,    109 
Home,   Books   useful    for  the,   227, 

240 
Home  libraries,  120 
House  organ   for   the   library,    200, 

208,   219,   264 


296 


INDEX 


Indexes   to   society  and    scientific 

publications,    Burden   of,    64 
lies,   George,   37,   65,   SO 
Information  desk,  location,  26 
Information    or    vertical    file,    207, 
271 


Kennedy,   J.   W.,   Course  of  study 
on  the  city   of  Newark,   205 


Legitimate  field  of  the  municipal 
public    library,    261 

Lending  department,  plan  and  lo- 
cation, 2ij 

Librarian,   a    worker,    S 

Librarian,  an  office-holder,  187 

Librarian's   enthusiasm,   39 

Librarian's   influence,   13,   121 

Librarians'  meetings,  2S7 

Librarianshii),  a  public  business, 
189 

Librarianship  as  a  profession,  9, 
39,  41,  171,  189,  209 

Libraries,  Increase  in  number  and 
growth   of,   79 

Libraries,  Origin  of,  243 

Librariology,   130,   221 

Library  associations,  state  and  lo- 
cal, 123 

Library  construction,  some  gen- 
eral principles,  22,  54,  63 

Library,  Course  of  instruction  in 
the  use  of,   197 

Library  meetings,  Faults  of,  129 

Library  methods.  Changes  in,  53, 
55.    63,    65,    148,    206 

Library  organizations,  How  to 
form,  126 

Library,  relation  to  the  commun- 
ity, 12,  41,  71,  136,  178 

Library,  Work  of,  for  countv  fair, 
291 

library's  functions,  15,  51,  60,  66, 
69,  73,  135,  153,  261 

Light  rooms  in  library  buildings. 
Necessity  for,  23 

Literary  criticism   not  reliable,   36 

Literary  journals.  Book  reviews 
in,  34 


Made-in-Newark    index    200 

Magazines  for  private  library,  242 

Management  of  modern  public  li- 
braries, 16,  19 

Management  problems,  250 

Map  collection.  206 

Meetings  in  library  buildings,  71, 
118 

Model  home  library.  List  of  books 
for,   240 

Municipal  affairs,  publicity  and 
the  public  library,  203,  212 

Municipal  improvement  organ- 
izations and    the   public   library, 

^Municipal  information.  Collection 
of,  205 

Municipal  league  library,  190 

Municipal  libraries,  191,  264 

Municipal    public    library,    its    le- 

.    gitimate  field,  261 

Municipal  reference  library,  Cleve- 
land, 263 

Museums,  Need  of,   73,   199 


National  Educational  Association, 
library  department,  11 

Natural  historj'  stories  for  chil- 
dren. 108 

Naude  on  the  management  of  li- 
braries, 51 

Newark  business  branch  library, 
200.  206,  213,  217,  254 

Newark,  check  list  of  organiza- 
tions, 132 

Newark,  course  of  study,  196,  205 

Newark  library  building.  Use  of, 
for  meetings  195 

Newark  library.  Notes  about,  191, 
198 

Newark  Museum  Association  or- 
ganization, 199 

Newark  newspaper  items  about  li- 
brary, 117 

Newarker,   The,   200,    208,   219,    264 

Newspapers,  Publicity  for  library 
through,  85,  115,  139 

Newspapers,  analysis  of  contents, 
46 

Newspapers  and  periodicals.  In- 
struction  in  use  of,   needed,   49 


297 


INDEX 


Newspapers,  Reading  of,  43 
Newspapers,    statistics,    44,    79 
Newspapers  will   usurp   the  w-ork 

of  libraries,  147 
Normal   schools,    Library    instruc- 
tion in,  197 


Publicity  through  newspapers,  85, 
115,  139 

Publishers  and  libraries,  coopera- 
tion needed,  84 

Publishing  and  printing,  statistics, 
43,  76,  80 


Open  shelf  system  desirable,  17,  83 
Organization,    Value    of,    71,    124, 

132,  136 
Organizations    in   Newark,    statis- 
tics,  132 


Paper  costs,  77 

Parents,   cooperation  needed,   6 

Partitions  should  be  avoided  in  li- 
brary buildings,   55 

Periodical  room,  28 

Periodicals,  estimated  annual  cir- 
culation, 48 

Periodicals,  increase  in  number,  79 

Periodicals,  Reading  of,  43 

Periodicals,  Weekly  and  monthly, 
character  of  contents,  47 

Periodicals,  what  to  buy  for  home 
use,  239 

Phonograph,  Story-telling  by,  151 

Picture  collections,  198,  215,  275 

Popular  fiction  authors,  104 

Poster  advertising,  119 

Print,  Increase  of,  52,   75,  79,  245 

Print,  statistics,  45,  52 

Printing  and  publishing,  statistics, 
45,  52,  76,  80 

Printing  presses.  Improvements 
in,  78 

Public  affairs  information  bureau, 
279 

Public,  The,  and  its  public  library, 
15 

Public  library  and  publicity  in 
municipal  affairs,  203 

Public  library,  How  to  start  a,  126 

Public  library  system  compulsory, 
7 

Public  welfare  organizations,  col- 
lection of  publications,  278 

Publicity  methods,  115,  127,  141, 
143,  158,  194,  200,  206,  219,  264 


Readers  and  non-readers,  graphic 
diagram,  112 

Readers'  cards.  How  to  dispense 
with,  149 

Readers'  cards.  Liberality  in  issu- 
ing, 31 

Readers,  Increase  in  number  of, 
52,  98,  108 

Reading  habit,  children  should  ac- 
quire,   in   school,    49,    74,   93,    269 

Reading  habit.  Increase  in,  52, 
98,   108,   110,  246 

Reading  habit,  not  taught  in  col- 
leges, 165 

Reading,  Librarian's,  what  it 
should  consist  of,   179 

Reading  matter.  Increase  of,  52, 
75,   246 

Reading  matter,  Kinds  of,  43,  98, 
IDS 

Reading,  statistics,  4,  44,  52,  100, 
108,   111 

Reading,  Teaching  of,  74,  94,  159, 
269 

Reference   room,.  Location  of,    27 

Reference  work  should  not  be 
limited  to  one  department,   30 

Registration  of  borrowers,  meth- 
ods, 31,  149 

Relation  of  library  to  city,  12,  41, 
69,   178,   187 

Repair  department,  qualifications 
necessary,    175 

Reviews,  Book;  what  they  should 
be,  37 


School  buildings.  Branch  libraries 
in,   94,   163,   181 

School   buildings,    continuous   use, 

.   270 

School  buildings.  Ideal,  of  the  fu- 
ture, 183 


298 


INDEX 


Schools    and    libraries,    Relations 

between,  92,   94,  118,  163 
Schools,  Wider  use  of,  ISl,  270 
Scientific    organizations    and    the 

public   library,    73 
Second-hand    book   stores,   226 
Social     activity,     The     library     a 

center  of,   70 
Social      organizations      and       the 

public    library,    12,    72 
Special       Libraries       Association, 

Origin  of,  253,  256 
Special  Libraries,  journal,  25S 
Special  library.   Evolution   of   the, 

243 
Storehouse    plan    for   dead    books, 

62 
Story-telling  in  libraries,   151,  153, 

162 
Students'    use    of   card    catalogue, 

58 
Study  clubs,  Work  with,  a  means 

of  publicity,  72,  119 
Supplementary  school  readers,  159 


Telephone,     Questions     answered 

by,  140 
Traveling  libraries,  120,  273 
Typesetting      and      casting      ma- 
chines, Use  of,  77 


Vertical   file   collection,    207,    271 


Wider    use    of    the    school    plant, 

181,   270 
Women  in  library  work,  171 
Women's    clubs    and   the    library, 

72 
T\'ords,  Mere,  67 

Woodstock,    Vt.,    County   fair    291 
Workingmen,  Use  of  library  build- 
ing by,  70 


299 


RETURN       LIBRARY  SCHOOL  LIBRARY 

TO*^       2  South  Hall                                  642-2253 

LOAN  PERIOD  1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

DUE   AS  STAMPED   BELOW 

DEC  19  1992 

FORM  NO.  DD  18,  45m, 

^,j^          UNIVERSITY  OF 
BERKE 

CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
LEY,  CA   94720 

